MGS3 servers stay up in Europe

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 March, 2007

Despite being shut down in USA.

Konami has moved to reassure European gamers that Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence servers will remain online for multiplay, despite the company's decision to switch off the American ones.

"The European MGS3 Subsistence Servers will stay online. Indeed, Konami recently announced a dedicated league system - www.MGS3LEAGUE.com - which will continue to provide services for fans of the game," the publisher said on its website.

Presumably this is because MGS3: Subsistence only came out here recently, whereas it's been out in the US since March of last year. We thought it was pretty amazing, if you're wondering.

Mind you, keeping your servers online for one year seems a bit tight. Even EA does better than that. What do you reckon, chaps? Would this affect your decision to go with a Konami online game in the future?

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Steroyd #1 5 years ago

    Woohoo?

  • bushwod #2 5 years ago

    tight bastards.

  • dadrester #3 5 years ago

    how few copies must this have sold in the US?!

  • fuzzyfelt #4 5 years ago

    Keeping the servers live for only a year is a bit tight. I think the decision will be associated with the MGS series rather than Konami itself - with this in mind I think MGS4 will be too bigger a game for the this subsistence servers incident to inform peoples decision whether to buy or not.

  • moggsy #5 5 years ago

    Still, not bad for free though.

  • HyperShadow #6 5 years ago

    See, this is a benefit of Live's yearly subscription. You don't really have to be worried about servers being taken down.

    Get what you pay for I guess.

  • Rambaldi #7 5 years ago

    Therein lies the problem with Sony's online strategy. And this is from one of the (if not the most) key developers exclusive to their platform!

  • dudefella #8 5 years ago

    People can still set up their own servers right? Or is MGS online in the USA just gone for good?

  • moggsy #9 5 years ago

    Nope, it`s gone for good.

  • [TR] #10 5 years ago

    Maybe it isn't possible, but they could just release a windows or linux version of the server and let people set up private ones.
    In fact, maybe they should do that for their next PSN games.
    Doesn't Live work a little like this? Each person hosts his game on his own console?

  • Aurifex. #11 5 years ago

    Call of duty is the boy. Still going for online play.

  • MORZTAN #12 5 years ago

    They shut down servers?? Holy Hell, online gaming must suck!!

  • chupachups #13 5 years ago

    "See, this is a benefit of Live's yearly subscription. You don't really have to be worried about servers being taken down. "

    That's what worries me about any "free" service, how long is it going to be around?

    If something's free, that means it has fewer resources but is likely to have far more players, which is a recipe for trouble.

  • skillian #14 5 years ago

    Doesn't Live work a little like this? Each person hosts his game on his own console?

    That's what I thought, and if Sony Online is free you'd imagine they'd do it the same way. As long as someone out there has the game, surely they can just create a new server?

  • Zomoniac #15 5 years ago

    how few copies must this have sold in the US?!

    Well they only seem to have made 8 copies for the whole of the UK, so my guess is they only did a 20-strong print run for the world.

  • AcidSnake #16 5 years ago

    Oh, one of them is here in Italy...So that's 21 worldwide?

  • tonynibbles #17 5 years ago

    NEED THIS!

  • trevd72 #18 5 years ago

    so how do the other sony games work, especially the ps3 games. are these hosted by me and you on our consoles? UBI even put in the option to allow your xbox to be a dedicated host. Is this another area where M$ cane $ony?
    Edited by 1 at 12/03/07 @ 14:04

  • Xerx3s #19 5 years ago

    A year online is rubbish, free or not.

    They should atleast make it possible for fans to host servers.

  • capcom23 #20 5 years ago

    That's why i'll never buy a MMORPG with fees! What if it shuts? then you have the game and you've paid it for a year or what then you can throw it away. worthless.

  • Kami #21 5 years ago

    Actually Capcom23, by paying towards the upkeep of the server you pretty much ensure they can keep it going. The shutting down of the MGS3 server (And the Outbreak File#2 servers are being closed too, as if you cared) isn't a surprise, you can keep them going for a while but as the hype dies away, people move onto other games and generally fewer people keep playing, they realise they are throwing money away on servers that don't get a lot of usage. So they cut loose and run - saves them money.

    As said though, there are many games that set up the base originator of the game as the "host". Removing lobbies etc. takes something away though, that much is certain, but they still have to look at it from a usage point of view - if it isn't getting a huge amount of usage, do they need it? You get what you pay for? Heck yes. If you're not paying anything for it, if they close it down you can't really claim the right to moan over it.

    Edited by 1 at 12/03/07 @ 14:49

  • floppylobster #22 5 years ago

    Is MGS3 any fun to play online multiplayer anyway? I can't imagine it. C&C type games or FPS will surely keep people coming back for more, but MGS is best known as a one player experience.

  • chupachups #23 5 years ago

    "That's why i'll never buy a MMORPG with fees! What if it shuts?"

    It's a problem whether it's free or not, it's still worthless when the online servers are shut down.

  • Xerx3s #24 5 years ago

    Doesn't Live work a little like this? Each person hosts his game on his own console?

    That's what I thought, and if Sony Online is free you'd imagine they'd do it the same way. As long as someone out there has the game, surely they can just create a new server?

    It still needs to interact with master servers. Live isn't simply a p2p network, there is a lot more going on than simply that. There are some nice articles on the general workings on msdn iirc.

  • TR421 #25 5 years ago

    How much does it cost to run the matchmaking servers?
    Aren't the master Quake III servers still running for instance?

  • simo #26 5 years ago

    And this is why I'm more than happy to pay for Xbox Live. £40 a year is nothing next to peace of mind.

  • dudefella #27 5 years ago

    With something like Quake 3, id software doesn't really have to do anything anymore. Any PC can fully host a dedicated game of Q3. MGS3 still goes through lobbies and shit that are on Konami's servers, and I guess they're taking all that stuff down.

  • dirigiblebill #28 5 years ago

    I hope they keep it going in Europe a while longer, because MGS3 works bizarrely well online. Takes a lot of getting used to though- the wall-press flips you 180 when you least expect it, the lean-out-and-fire mechanic looks cool but is bloody useless and there's a nasty tendency to throw yourself flat in the middle of a knife fight. But the maps are great, the weapons/tools are many and I never tire of diving through them windows.

  • bdc #29 5 years ago

    Because it's quite a rubbish game online, really.