It’s taken nearly two years, but a “secret” ending to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has finally surfaced. As of Feb. 2, players were able to access the “Peace Day” ending that the game had previously locked under some extremely difficult circumstances. Somehow, a Peace Day video has surfaced on YouTube. Even if you’ve already finished pretty much everything Hideo Kojima’s opus has to offer, it’s still an emotional moment that may very well move you to bust out the tissues.
The strange thing is, however, that Konami (by way of the official Metal Gear Twitter account ) did not intentionally release this ending. Konami’s official Twitter account posted a short three-tweet thread explaining as such:
The nuclear disarmament event was triggered in the Steam version of METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN on Feb 2nd at approximately 12:00 GMT. We are still investigating, but can confirm that the event was triggered while the nuke count hadn’t reached zero. (1/3)
— METAL GEAR OFFICIAL (@metalgear_en) February 4, 2018
We will share more information as soon as possible, but you can play the game normally and other platforms have not been affected. (2/3)
— METAL GEAR OFFICIAL (@metalgear_en) February 4, 2018
We would like to apologize for the inconvenience and reassure you that we will investigate the matter as well as take the necessary action to avoid this in the future. (3/3)
— METAL GEAR OFFICIAL (@metalgear_en) February 4, 2018
It seems that even now, at the time of writing, Konami isn’t exactly sure how the event was triggered, but it’s great (for the fans) that it did. It’s a touching scene that colors a world where no one has any nuclear weapons, and the world experiences a “Peace Day,” with a bit of an ironic ending, at least in the clip seen below. It seems that even in times of peace, war continues to impede progress.
The prerequisites for this event were previously so insane that it seemed like the cinematic would never be available. It was supposed to be triggered if every last one of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’s players decided to dismantle all of their nuclear weapons at their Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). Obviously, that’s a big ask. Even if there were a concerted effort to do this, there would still be a large population of those obnoxious enough to refuse, as well as players who just never received the memo.
Yet in a world where hackers exist, it’s not surprising at all that this happened, as Konami confirmed, while the nuke count had yet to reach zero. It’s likely the count never would have gotten there, and players were just tired of waiting. Either this was an accident or the work of impatient hackers that triggered the event for the good of all Metal Gear fans everywhere.
Some players have continued to post that when all the nukes have been disarmed, Konami would release a special third chapter to the game, adding the “complete” ending that wasn’t meant to be due to the bad blood between Hideo Kojima and Konami. Originally, there was a third act that was planned for inclusion in the game, but it was eventually scrapped in lieu of what’s essentially a rehash of the opening mission of The Phantom Pain.
Obviously, some magical unlock isn’t going to happen, but this cinematic is at the very least a nice bit of content to help ease the blow of there never being another proper Metal Gear game again since Kojima has since departed the company to found Kojima Productions.
Metal Gear Survive is on the horizon, however, and it’s still scheduled to drop Feb. 20. At least there’s that, right?
