PS3 Exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4 Could Have Been on Xbox 360, Says Assistant Producer.
Ryan Payton, the assistant producer of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, has revealed that the game was once running smoothly on the Xbox 360 competitor console to Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3). Time Extension claims that the data is from Volume 2 of Steven L. Kent’s book, The Ultimate History of Video Games.
According to Payton, there was no exclusivity agreement in place to ensure that Metal Gear Solid 4 would only be released on the PS3. Instead, the decision hinged on the choice of disc format used in Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Konami set up a team to look into the possibility of porting the game to the Xbox 360.
Payton explains in Kent’s book that his colleagues, despite their frustrations with developing for the PS3, were staunch supporters of Sony and were not in favor of allocating resources to test the game on a different platform. They believed that Metal Gear Solid 4 would not fare well on the Xbox 360 due to its older and inferior hardware.
However, the team at Konami’s Research and Development division surprised everyone when they presented Metal Gear Solid 4 running beautifully and smoothly on an Xbox 360 during a meeting. The technical feasibility of the port was demonstrated, but the practicality of implementing it on a physical level presented a challenge.
The stumbling block was the difference in disc storage capacity between the two consoles. Xbox 360 games relied on DVD-ROM discs with a maximum capacity of 8.3GB, while PS3 games used BD-ROM discs with a maximum data storage capacity of 54GB. A compromise that Konami was unwilling to make would have been to spread Metal Gear Solid 4 across multiple discs in order to port it to the Xbox 360.
This limitation was also highlighted by Jack Tretton, an executive at Sony, who stated that the exclusivity and technical achievements of Metal Gear Solid 4 were made possible by the Blu-ray format. Sony’s Blu-ray discs allowed developers to harness the increased storage capacity, enabling them to create more expansive and immersive gaming experiences.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots remains a PS3 exclusive title to this day, never having been re-released on any other gaming platform. However, Konami recently announced the upcoming release of Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Additionally, the company will be launching the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection series, with Volume 1 including Metal Gear Solid 1-3 and the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2.
The revelation that Metal Gear Solid 4 was once running smoothly on the Xbox 360 sheds new light on the decisions made during its development. The disc format disparity between the PS3 and Xbox 360 ultimately prevented the game from being ported to Microsoft’s console. While Metal Gear Solid 4 remains a beloved PS3 exclusive, fans can look forward to experiencing the franchise on new platforms with the upcoming releases of Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater and the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection.
