‘Metal Gear Solid 5’ PC Disc Doesn’t Actually Have The Game, Just A Steam Installer

For PC fans getting Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain on physical disc to hopefully avoid a long download on launch day, you will likely be sorely disappointed. Metal Gear Solid 5 launches on Tuesday, September 1, and it won’t be available for pre-load on Steam, nor will you be able to pre-install via the disc, since the disc reportedly only contains a Steam installer.

As reported by VG247, a fan getting an advance copy of the PC version posted via Twitter a screenshot of the disc’s content. Apparently, Konami is really restricting anyone being able to pre-load the PC version and, instead of actually putting Metal Gear Solid 5 on the disc, it’s the un-preloadable Steam installer.

Chances are, if you were buying Metal Gear Solid 5 on disc, you were hoping to avoid downloading on launch day, especially because physical media on PC is increasingly rare in today’s gaming industry. Unfortunately, those getting The Phantom Pain on PC are being forced to do so.

While pre-loading will be available on console versions, the PC version of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is not pre-loadable – in any form it seems. Kojima’s magnum opus is hardly the first game to do this, many games that use Steam as DRM will download via Steam, regardless of whether you have the disc in the drive or not. However, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Konami in general, have been dealing with bad PR since rumors swirled around (and then have been confirmed) that Hideo Kojima’s branding was being taken off the game’s cover art.

The game launches on September 1 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4, and while the main game will be available at launch, the much anticipated online mode will not be accessible until October 6. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has been getting rave reviews since reviews started going live last week, with some of the major sites giving The Phantom Pain perfect scores. Many sites are raving about the game’s exceptional gameplay, meaningful stealth gameplay, and the sandbox nature of the game. However, the reviews are being done on console, so if you’re looking forward to the PC version, or maybe even buying the physical media on launch day, you might wait until you see reports from sites regarding the state of the port.

Getting Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[Image via Konami]