Metal Gear Solid V nuclear disarmament now considered impossible after fan investigation

Rumors about new Metal Gear games from Konami have been swirling for some time now, but many fans are still dedicated to Metal Gear Solid V. This is due to the theoretical Act 3, believed to be tied to the game’s nuke system.

Metal Gear Solid V has a bunch of weapons, but bolstering your FOBs with nuclear bombs is the endgame move. However, it’s long been believed that fully disarming the game of all nukes will unlock a third, secret chapter focused on peace. According to a new investigation by YouTube channel Did You Know Gaming, reaching that fully disarmed state is now virtually impossible.

The full video, which you can watch below, chronicles the disarmament efforts that have been made since the game’s 2015 release. It focuses on a particular group, The Anti-Nuke Gang, who used illegitimate means to reach the zero mark at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. The group did this through the game’s PS3 version due to its susceptibility to hacks. That cut both ways: hackers could add more nukes to their stock, and The Anti-Nuke Gang could force a count of zero.

This had two results. First, at least one member of the gang was banned for hacking the game — fair enough. Second, the group found that reaching zero by legitimate means was impossible. It discovered what became referred to as “phantom nukes.” These were nuclear bombs listed in the game’s count but not attached to any players’ FOBs. In other words, there were armed nukes that no player could access, making it impossible for them to completely disarm. The Anti-Nuke Gang begged Konami to fix this game-breaking bug, but so far there has been no response.

It’s certainly not the first time Konami has been petitioned. The #SaveMetalGear hashtag was created last fall when the games starting becoming digitally delisted. A few years earlier, a tribute to series creator Hideo Kojima was found within Metal Gear Survive. Fans and developers alike take issue with Konami, and the company is now the only thing that can truly achieve peace in Metal Gear Solid V.