Is “The Phantom Pain” reveal a new Metal Gear game?

A new game has been announced at the Video Game Awards, called “The Phantom Pain”. It’s reportedly being developed by the unheard of “Moby Dick Studio”, apparently based in Sweden.

The announcement was paired with a trailer, showing entirely “gameplay” footage of a character who seems to have lost his memory. He wakes up in a hospital with no recollection of what happened or where he is, and a hook for an arm.

Then the archetypal bad military men show up and start executing everybody, while the protagonist fumbles around trying to hide from the scary men with guns.

Then, in what is presumably a nod to “Moby Dick Studios”, a giant whale appears and eats a helicopter like a B-grade horror flick.

This is where it gets interesting though – speculation is running rampant that this somewhat troll video is actually a preview of a new Metal Gear Solid game. Here’s the evidence:

The protagonist looks exactly like Solid Snake, even sporting identical scars.

The presumed fictional studio “Moby Dick” was founded by CEO “Joakim Mogren” – “Joakim” being an anagram of “Kojima”.

Some suggest that Metal Gear villains Psycho Mantis and Volgin can be seen in the Phantom Pain reveal video.

A post-VGAs Konami party hosted a VIP section full of people wearing T-shirts sporting Phantom Pain and Moby Dick Studios – none of these people were Swedish.

Konami has declined to comment, but it seems like this is sure to be an elaborate ruse. But come on Kojima, this is the internet – you’ve got to be a little more cryptic than that.

Check out the trailer for yourself: