Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. has revealed the unique link between its eagerly-awaited METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES title and METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN.

Both new additions to the METAL GEAR SOLID canon, Kojima Productions has created METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES as an entry experience and prologue to the events of METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. It will serve to introduce key gameplay components that will be fully realised in the fifth, full METAL GEAR SOLID epic, and act as a bridge between the linearity of existing titles and the full open-world environments of METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN.

Explaining the relationship between the two titles, Hideo Kojima – Creator of the METAL GEAR SOLID series and Head of Kojima Productions – commented: “The advanced capabilities of the FOX Engine have allowed me to tell the new story in a new way. There will be a significant difference in what METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN brings to the series, so we want to ease players into the new open world environment and its potential. As such, METAL GEAR SOLID: GROUND ZEROES has been designed to introduce key elements, allowing them to fully benefit from all that the new game will offer.”

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES charts a rescue mission as users infiltrate a Cuban prison camp, and sets in motion a series of events that culminate in the stunning plotlines of METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. The prelude showcases key advances to the series made possible by its use of Kojima Productions’ FOX Engine, with a large open environment, and missions where time of day and weather have a dynamic effect on the game and its missions. These elements will play a vital part in the story set up in METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES, while familiarising users with the possibilities they offer ahead of METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN.

Both titles will be released for PlayStation®3, PlayStation®4, the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system and Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, highlighting the groundbreaking capabilities that the FOX Engine brings to current and next generation consoles.