Consoles lead Metal Gear Solid V’s race to nuclear disarmament

Peace Day comes to PC last

In case you missed it, the Metal Gear series has always had a pretty strong anti-nuclear message, and it’s never been more literal than in Metal Gear Solid V, the multiplayer “FOB” component of which allows players to develop and store their own nukes, as well as steal and disarm them from other players.

Now Konami’s kicked off the anti-nuke fervor with its official “Secret Nuclear Disarmament Event”, challenging players to disarm their own (or each others’) nukes for the good of mankind. That’s actually asking a bit much, given that developing a nuke takes obscene amounts of resources, and makes a player effectively immune to FOB invasions, except from other nuclear-equipped players or “true heroes”. 

But it is happening, according to Konami’s announcement. Ever since the company started counting on November 1st, nuclear stockpiles on all six platforms have dropped dramatically. As of Friday’s count, the Xbox 360 leads the charge to peace, with just 65 nukes left in circulation from a high of 1,011, a disarmament rate of almost ninety-five percent. The Xbox One’s mere 50 nukes, from 525 at the beginning of the month, is no figure to sneeze at, either. The PS3 and PS4 communities have also boasted impressive disarmament rates, of about 90% and 82%, respectively, despite a larger total number of nukes present. 

Unfortunately, it looks like total disarmament will be longer in coming for Private Forces playing on Personal Computers, as the PC servers report over thirteen thousand nuclear weapons still in service, down from a staggering thirty-six thousand as of November 1st. As a point of comparison, even with half of its WMDs out of commission, PC users still possess more nuclear weapons than are currently estimated to exist in service with all the nuclear-armed nations in the world, combined.

Now, I’ll leave you with my favorite anti-nuclear song (which I try to mod into any Fallout game I play), as well as the criteria for participating in the event, in case you too want to make Paz’s dream come true.

Metal Gear Solid V Official Site [Konami]

Criteria for participating in The Secret Nuclear Disarmament Event:

1. You must have completed Mission 31.
2. You must not own or be currently developing a nuclear weapon. If you have any nukes in stock, you must dismantle them.
3. Certain conditions related to nuclear proliferation must be met on the regional server for your corresponding gaming platform (PlayStation®4, PlayStation®3, Xbox One, Xbox 360®, PC(Steam®)).
4. All nuclear weapons on the regional server corresponding to your console or platform must have been dismantled. In other words, the amount of nukes on your platform’s server must be equal to 0. *

*If all four conditions are met, you will automatically trigger the secret nuclear disarmament event when you return to Mother Base or after you complete a main mission. Should new nukes be developed after conditions 3 and 4 have been fulfilled, this event can be repeated by fulfilling all four conditions again.