MGS theme excluded from MGS4 due to plagiarism accusations

Longtime Metal Gear composer Norihiko Hibino recently revealed the real reason why the iconic Metal Gear theme song was absent in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: plagiarism accusations.

Longtime Metal Gear composer Norihiko Hibino recently revealed the real reason why the iconic Metal Gear theme song was absent in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: plagiarism accusations.

Speaking to EGM, Hibino said that Konami got into some legal problems with Russian composers who claimed that the Metal Gear Solid theme was a rip-off of a classical composition by Russian composer Georgy Sviridov.

You can watch a video of some Russians presenting the disputed song to series creator Hideo Kojima here.

The Metal Gear Solid theme debuted when the first game in the Solid series launched in 1998. In contrast, Sviridov’s composition was written in 1979.

Hibino said that although Konami didn’t steal the music, the company thought that the issue was too sensitive and eventually decided against including it in Metal Gear Solid 4.

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Via Gamasutra