Metal Gear Solid Delta’s Multiplayer Fumbles: No Crossplay, Delayed Launch—Why This Should Worry

Why Konami’s Multiplayer Strategy Feels Out of Touch

As someone who’s played Metal Gear since the PS1 days, I was genuinely excited to see Konami put serious effort into remaking Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The trailers ooze nostalgia, and the painstaking recreation is something longtime fans like me dream about. But when I heard that the much-touted “Fox Hunt” multiplayer mode wouldn’t be available at launch-and worse, would lack crossplay-I couldn’t help but feel Konami completely missed the mark in 2024’s multiplayer landscape.

• The highly anticipated Fox Hunt mode drops months after launch
• No crossplay-PS5, Xbox, and PC players are stuck in separate silos
• Konami offers radio silence about why this key feature is missing
• This timing and feature gap could be a death sentence for the multiplayer scene

Breaking Down the Announcement: What Went Wrong?

Let’s not sugarcoat it—multiplayer releases live and die on player base size and accessibility. By releasing Fox Hunt well after the August 28 launch date (sometime in the fall, with no firm window), Konami already puts their new mode at a disadvantage. Players flock to big releases on day one, and attention drops off fast, especially with a stacked Q4 release calendar. By the time Fox Hunt arrives, everyone could be knee-deep in newer titles—think Call of Duty, Alan Wake 2, or whatever surprise banger drops this fall.

And the lack of crossplay? That’s unforgivable in 2024. Literally every major shooter and co-op hit—Apex, Fortnite, Call of Duty, even indie games—launched or patched in crossplay to keep their matchmaking pool alive. Konami’s refusal to offer any explanation just makes it feel tone-deaf, especially when Fox Hunt (by all accounts) depends on quick, healthy matchmaking for the cat-and-mouse gameplay to feel dynamic.

Industry Context: Did Konami Learn Nothing from the Last Decade?

This is the same mistake we saw with Metal Gear Survive, where multiplayer friction killed any hope of lasting community engagement. And it’s not just a Konami problem—games like Marvel’s Avengers and Back 4 Blood struggled to keep players because of platform barriers and weak post-launch support. There’s a pattern here: if you want your multiplayer to thrive in today’s fractured market, you must give the community every tool possible to stick around, not give them reasons to drift away.

Metal Gear fans are some of the most loyal in gaming, but even nostalgia can’t overcome outdated design. With competing launches and ever-shortening player attention spans, arriving late to the party—without crossplay—is like turning up at midnight and realizing the doors are locked.

What Gamers Need to Know — Is Fox Hunt DOA?

I see a best-case scenario where Fox Hunt finds a hardcore but tiny community on each platform. But if you’re hoping for wild, full lobbies like classic Metal Gear Online days, keep expectations low. The delayed release already dims its spotlight, and platforms being walled off just accelerates matchmaking woes—especially on PC, where niche modes die off within weeks without a critical mass of players.

It’s a real shame because a fresh, stealth-driven asymmetrical mode could have been a highlight, giving the remake lasting appeal beyond the nostalgia run. But what Konami’s showing right now is a remake with a side of yesterday’s multiplayer mistakes.

Looking Ahead: Will Konami Course-Correct?

Maybe Konami will patch in crossplay after getting flooded with feedback (that’s the hope). But launching your “new” multiplayer mode behind both a time delay and a feature wall just feels amateurish in 2024. It’s frustrating as a lifelong fan to see such an iconic franchise get this close to greatness, only to trip on the basics.

TL;DR

Konami is dropping Fox Hunt multiplayer mode for Metal Gear Solid Delta late and without crossplay. For multiplayer fans, that’s a big red flag—expect matchmaking issues and a limited community, unless Konami reverses course. If you’re here just for the nostalgia trip, the single-player remake lands August 28, but don’t bank on the multiplayer reviving that classic magic—at least, not at launch.