Mon, Dec 10, 2012 | 08:36 GMT
The Phantom Pain announced, Metal Gear 5 suspected
The debut trailer for Moby Dick Studio’s The Phantom Pain was shown this evening during the 2012 VGAs.

It’s being said on Twitter it’s a next-gen title, but the studio’s website shows Xbox 360 and PS3 logos, so while it could be a next-gen title, we’ll just stick with current offerings for now.
There was a lot of buzz on Twitter from people at the show, who seem to think this is a Metal Gear game – or at least from Kojima who just so happened to be sitting in the audience.
The studio, which is located in Stockholm, was founded by Joakim Mogre. And, of course, the Internet is theorizing that “Joakim” is an anagram of “Kojima” and others point out that the last name “Mogren” is a football club in Montenegro which is where the opening of MGR: Revengeance takes place.
Some even say the main character looks a awful lot like Snake.
The, there’s journalist Alex Rubens who tweeted the following: “There are people in the VIP section of the Konami party wearing Phantom Pain/Moby Dick Studios t-shirts. They aren’t talking about anything. And no, they aren’t Swedish.”
Moby Dick describes itself as: “a game developing company operating out of Stockholm, Sweden… founded by CEO Joakim Mogren who after years of working for a major American developer brought together people out of various game studios from around the Scandinavian area to start something new. Our goal is to deliver an uncompromising, exciting and touching game experience to people all around the globe.
“We will shortly be disclosing information regarding our first major release.”
Speculate away, and have a look at the link to the GAF thread up there – which is chock-full of theories.
The Phantom Pain by milkandmolasses


55 comments
Newer Comments
#1
CycloneFox
08/12/12, 2:48 am
who says its next gen? because i think we already Know this game. it’s koji pro testing if they can sell us a Level of mgs ground zeroes as a whole different game. it just bloody looks like Fox engine and big bosses beard.
#2
Malmer
08/12/12, 2:57 am
The website of the swedish developer has ps3 and 360 logos on their site. So I say curgen. http://www.mobydickstudio.se/
#3
Stephany Nunneley
08/12/12, 2:58 am
@1 It was being said by various outlets on twitter. I will fix it all when the show is finished.
@2 and thanks
#4
CycloneFox
08/12/12, 3:01 am
keep in mind, it’s just a rumor, or my opinion. but it looks just like it.
#5
Stephany Nunneley
08/12/12, 3:11 am
I will see what all I can find out. These shows…. they are so damn fast with everything and they reveal zero information. :/ I will look over the studio link above in a bit and fill things out. It seems to have interesting premise.
#6
CycloneFox
08/12/12, 4:21 am
pushsquare.com found out something interesting, you should Check out:
” Looks like we were spot on. Moby Dick Studio’s website was registered by ‘Joakim Mogren’. That is, of course, an anagram of ‘Kojima’. It’s also worth noting that ‘Mogren’ contains the word ‘Ogre’ – as in Project Ogre.”
also, the Studio moby dick is yet pretty much unknown in gaming industry why it is pretty much unlikely, that they are making the best looking game of the whole show and maybe (next to ground zeroes) of this gen. another fishy thing is, we Don’t See any Publisher or Studio in this trailer, on Top of that, the trailer Shows just one area/Level of the game and maybe the Most suspicious thing about this trailer is, that they do absolutely Not Show the Protagonist’s face, as if they are hiding the character’s identity.
you can’t fool me joakim! or should i say “kojima”?
#7
SlayerGT
08/12/12, 4:34 am
Mountain Dew boy said before the show that they’d be showing a premier that would require a bit of detective work.
#8
SlayerGT
08/12/12, 4:45 am
I think it’s Snake.
#9
Erthazus
08/12/12, 4:55 am
He looks like big Boss. Like 99% like him.
#10
Erthazus
08/12/12, 5:06 am
This is Ground Zeroes guys.
#11
CycloneFox
08/12/12, 5:13 am
Don’t want to spoil anything, but more reasons for this being Ground Zeroes:
- Ground Zereos Trailer sais : “From “Fox”, two Phantoms were born”
-The Logo of Phantom Brave shown at the end has some added and cut out lines , which would match the Letters “Metal Gear Solid V”
Edit: I show you how i mean that: http://www.abload.de/img/mgsf4rsx.jpg Edit2: Oh, as i see now, that was already shown in a gif on the other forum.
- http://www.abload.de/img/phantom_pain_petalvqui5.jpg
- http://www.abload.de/img/phantom_pain_volginbju7d.png
- http://www.abload.de/img/phantom_pain_big_bossslumz.jpg
The three Moby Dick Studio Websites, I found were:
http://mobydickstudio.com/fr/justforfun.html
http://www.mobydickstudio.com.ar/estudio.html
http://www.mobydickstudio.se/en/
pretty fishy too if you ask me.
#12
Stephany Nunneley
08/12/12, 5:30 am
@11 Awesome work there!
It’s really becoming a no brainer isn’t it?
#13
Belmont
08/12/12, 5:41 am
@11
Nice work,detective !
@12
exactly !
#14
CycloneFox
08/12/12, 5:51 am
On the neogaf forum, users also found out, that the execs from Moby Dick Studio were seen in Konami’s VIP booth.
https://twitter.com/alexrubens/status/277279035426484224
https://twitter.com/alexrubens/status/277283358432706560/photo/1
At least, I think they are the imaginary execs.
#15
Dragon246
08/12/12, 6:15 am
@CycloneFox
I thought too that the beard looked too familiar. Great job dude!
#16
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 6:27 am
@11 “From “Fox”, two Phantoms were born”
or, From FOX engine two games were created.
#17
Erthazus
08/12/12, 6:33 am
I think it is Ground Zeroes.
I don’t see this as a new game at all because there is no improvement compared to MGS:GZ.
#18
Stephany Nunneley
08/12/12, 6:43 am
I have a link to the Kotaku pull of the video in there now.
Keep coming up with stuff, I have to go to bed. I will see you guys again in about 6 hours.
#19
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 9:03 am
@Erthazus but Kojima already said that Ground Zeroes is not MGSV and it’s not project Ogre either. So, they can be 2 entirely different games and in this trailer this time Big Boss looks a bit older. Maybe it covers the cycle that Big Boss went through the snatcher project and became a cyborgish. We seen him at a hospital with one arm cut off and lost considerable amount of weight and a lot weaker due to his comatosed state. So, it’s a possibility, don’t you agree?
That doctor in the trailer can very well be Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar. Big Boss is obviously under heavy medication and hallucinates like crazy.
#20
Erthazus
08/12/12, 9:18 am
I’m not sure that this is Big Boss at all Gwyn because he has no arm and who has no arm?
Yeah. Liquid Snake.
I’m still not sure about the new game in the series. Look, even Revengeance is not out… Two Official MGS games announced this year? Too much in my opinion.
#21
matirishhh
08/12/12, 9:20 am
I was hoping for release date on this video. I don’t know how some people didn’t know it was Ground Zeros. Solid snake and psycho mantis at the very end…it was so clear.
Can’t wait for this game.
And a glimpse of Hideo himself seating there in a VIP zone and smiling hehe
#22
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 9:26 am
Also in the flames we see a Big Boss like figure with a night vision goggles on his head that figure dressed up exactly as how Big Boss appears in the Ground Zero trailer, the suit and the goggles. It may very well be another hallucination or he sees one of his sons (probably Solid Snake) and sees himself, it might be the era that Solid Snake is part of FOX-HOUND.
#23
Kabby
08/12/12, 12:04 pm
A well executed troll. His best yet.
#24
absolutezero
08/12/12, 12:17 pm
The character walking through the flames at the end of the trailer is quite obviously Volgin.
Which is nice.
#25
Da Man
08/12/12, 12:24 pm
Metal Gear Solid. Made by tasteless shizophrenics, for tasteless shizophrenics.
You know it’s true.
#26
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 12:24 pm
“Thanks for all the VGA feedback. The Phantom Pain is an a completely game, nothing that has been shown before. I assure you of that.”
Geoff Keighley tweeted this after the show btw, so, it’s a different game than Ground Zeroes after all.
https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley
PS: ..And Da Man ridicules me for being unpronounceable.
#27
Da Man
08/12/12, 12:26 pm
^Well, here comes the first one..
#28
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 12:27 pm
^ I mean look at his tweet.
#29
absolutezero
08/12/12, 1:10 pm
I would not have it any other way DM.
#30
Dark
08/12/12, 1:33 pm
At the Konami Party after the VGA .. two men wearing The Phantom Pain / Moby Dick Studio t-shirts were spotted in the VIP section.
http://gematsu.com/2012/12/is-the-phantom-pain-a-new-metal-gear-solid
#31
DarkKnight
08/12/12, 2:07 pm
@25
Baby shooters, made for assholes like Douche-bagMan.
Do like any thing, or being an asshole is your goal of life?
#32
Da Man
08/12/12, 2:24 pm
^My goal is to make you try harder.
#33
Stephany Nunneley
08/12/12, 2:38 pm
Video added.
#34
LuLshuck
08/12/12, 2:40 pm
If you look closely at the end of the video where you see the gun being pointed at big boss, in the background you can see Psycho Mantis, im guessing the game is around big boss cause the guy mentions him being in a coma and if i remember correctly snake did beat the shit out of big boss so maybe he put him in a coma but i still the whole level was a dream though
#35
YoungZer0
08/12/12, 3:09 pm
Wait. In the trailer for Ground Zeroes, it said “From Fox two Phantoms are born.” Maybe they meant that from the Fox Engine two games are born. Maybe this isn’t a Metal Gear at all, but actually Project Ogre. I don’t remember Solid, Liquid, Solidus or Naked Snake losing their left arm.
#36
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 3:10 pm
Just to add to the conversation, there are 2 times that Big Boss ends up in coma one being the time Solid Snakes nearly distroys him, another prior to that in the early 70′s where “Les Enfants Terribles” project takes place.
Also, there are many crazy theories out there but it’s either the early 70′s or the 90′s after Solid Snakes defeats Big Boss. I think now the 70′s is more plausible.
@35 He can be awake and hallucinating, seeing a combination of reality and hallucination.
#37
xino
08/12/12, 3:45 pm
this has to be next gen!
sick trailer!
love it, very very suspenseful!
everyone’s reaction to MGS5 proves that the gaming industry gamers are not ready for new IP or don’t even want new ip!
just because the guy looks like Big Boss doesn’t mean it’s MGS5.
when Zoey in The Last Of Us was shown, people thought it was Ellen Page. How close minded some people can really be.
this game is either exclusive on PS3 or on PC
#38
KrazyKraut
08/12/12, 3:46 pm
dont know if someone already mentioned it….but…at the end you see Psycho Mantis….
#39
KrazyKraut
08/12/12, 3:47 pm
nvm…someone already mentioned it. I am sure its MGS 5….and only kojima would be able to transform a character (the lost arm) in this way.
#40
LuLshuck
08/12/12, 3:52 pm
@37 nope says its for xbox and ps3
#41
monkeygourmet
08/12/12, 3:54 pm
@39
Yeah:
http://www.zimbio.com/Hideo+Kojima/articles/mqm8Evdn-q2/Phantom+Pain+new+Metal+Gear+Solid
#42
osric90
08/12/12, 4:42 pm
Dude… I’m 90% sure this is METAL GEAR SOLID 5: GROUND ZEROES too… but damn, that was an awesome genre trailer. I’m sold, I’m so sold.
#43
vicrysty
08/12/12, 5:28 pm
I recognized Psycho Mantis.
#44
GwynbleiddiuM
08/12/12, 5:28 pm
@42 It’s not Ground Zeroes:
1) KOJIMA himself said it at PAX that GZ is neither MGS5 nor Project Ogre
2) Geoff Keighley tweeted “Thanks for all the VGA feedback. The Phantom Pain is an a completely game, nothing that has been shown before. I assure you of that.”
#45
CycloneFox
08/12/12, 10:02 pm
^This and Kojima already said, that Ground Zeroes is the Prequel for MGS V and that we won’t have to wait very long for it, when Ground Zeroes was announced.
Now This game actually wears the name “Metal Gear Solid V” in its trailer.
This could either mean, they redecided and renamed Ground Zeroes, into MGS V, or MGS Ground Zeroes is a prequel episode of MGS V, like the tanker-scene was a prequel of MGS2, or MGS Ground Zeroes and MGS V are really two different games and Ground Zeroes is coming very soon.
#46
The Last Nomad
08/12/12, 10:37 pm
Don’t care if this is MGS5 or a new IP altogether, this has my attention.
#47
Triggerhappy
08/12/12, 11:38 pm
Awww man i keep coming back to this article to see if theres been any updates and to check the comments aswell lol, sooo excited for this. I watched the VGS’s last night so i seen it live and i was thinking it looked kinda like Metal Gear just from the graphical style and the way the main character was crawling along the floor, plus the floor tiles… there very Metal Gearish lol. Then when i seen Moby Dick Studios i was like who?? Why is this unknown dev getting such a big premier on the VGA’s?? Then of course theres the character himself, mullet and all, NO ONE’S gona make there main character of a new IP look like one of the most iconic characters in the videogame world, just no way. What a spectacular and elaborate hoax though, a fake trailer for a fake game… this is brilliant and Kojima at his best. Absolutely legendary. I highly doubt Konami’s got 2 major proper canon Metal Gears in the works. Even if they did there not gona start teasing 5 until Ground Zeros out the way and in the wild. I always said and ive said it before on here that MGS5 would be awesome if it was one game but split into 2 chapters, first chapter where your Big boss getting takin down by Snake (first Metal Gear) and second part where your Snake taking Big Boss down for the second time (second Metal Gear). That would be spectacular, it would please both the hardcore Big Boss fans and the hardcore Snake fans and it would be an amazing way to wrap up the series. I don’t think we’re gona get any more story after MGS4, hell yeh I would like some but I don’t think it’s gona happen.
#48
osric90
09/12/12, 3:44 am
I’m right, you’re wrong, trust me on that.
#49
Clupula
09/12/12, 4:46 am
No one here played MGS3? No one here remembers the little vampire minigame in the PS2 version when Big Boss was outcold?
That’s the first thing that popped into my mind while watching this.
It’s Ground Zeroes and if these sequences happen in the game, they’re a hallucination or a fever dream or something.
#50
mathare92
09/12/12, 7:08 am
@49 I remember the dream minigame in Snake Eater.
I had just started up my save, so at first was incredibly confused. Kept killing the monsters for what must have been five minutes until I realised I maybe had to die to get out of it.
Btw, I share the same suspicion: it’s Ground Zeroes; Big Boss is in a hospital for some reason, and experiences another one of those trademark Kojima dreams.
Newer Comments