There have been quite a few rumors surrounding the Metal Gear Solid franchise of late, and now fans can add another potential project to the list in the form of the Metal Gear Solid Classic Collection. The collection is said to include Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The Classic Collection would be a different entity from the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake that's also rumored to be announced for multiple consoles soon.The Metal Gear Solid Classic Collection would bring the trio of tactical espionage titles to multiple consoles, presumably PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Each of the games would be presented as HD remasters and is said to be excluded from today's PlayStation Showcase and its potential slate of games. The project would instead be revealed to the public sometime next month, perhaps by Konami directly during the Summer Game Fest promotional period. Today's rumor regarding the Metal Gear Solid Classic Collection comes from Jez Corden of Windows Central. Corden notes that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots would not be included in the Classic Collection, likely because it was originally developed for the PlayStation 3 and that console's Cell microprocessor notoriously made that generation of games difficult to port. Though, per Corden, there is a possibility of additional Metal Gear franchise installments coming in the form of a Metal Gear Solid Classic Collection Volume 2. This collection could consist of side titles such as Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance.
Corden states that the existence of the Metal Gear Solid Classic Collection could explain why the digital editions of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 were delisted in November 2021. At the time, Konami cited licensing issues with "select historical archive footage" and stated that the delisting of the games was temporary. However, the titles have not been made available for download again since.
The rumored Classic Collection wouldn't be the first time these three games would be bundled together. In 2011, Konami published the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The compilation boasted an impressive collection of titles that included the original Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The package received critical acclaim, however, fans were perturbed by the absence of Metal Gear Solid or its remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Series creator Hideo Kojima would later state that The Twin Snakes, developed by Silicon Knights, wasn't a part of the collection as Kojima and his team were not directly involved in its development and thus didn't consider the project canon.