Konami Delays Metal Gear Online Beta

Officials from Konami have been forced to suspend plans for beta testing of PlayStation 3 title Metal Gear Online in the West, due to what they describe as “extraordinary” levels of traffic. Although testing in Japan will continue, the company admits that it will be unable to run the service as expected in the U.S. and Europe. According to a statement on the Metal Gear Online website the start of the public beta test, due to take place today, will be deferred until Konami is able to stabilize their server. No new commencement data has been given, but another announcement is planned for tomorrow. As a result, the closure date for the beta test has now been extended from June 5th 2008 to June 11th. The website indicates that voucher codes necessary to participate in the beta test will only be valid until June 6th, at which point it will no longer be possible to join the beta. Metal Gear Online is an extension of the online components from Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and was originally intended to be a standalone product, but will now be bundled as part of the Metal Gear Solid 4 package.