THE BUZZ: Konami has announced that the Metal Gear Solid 4 spin-off, Metal Gear Online, will be shutting down this June.

The PlayStation 3 exclusive will go offline for good after exactly four years of existence on June 12. The Metal Gear Online shop will close for the last time on March 21 followed by new member registration ending April 24. After this point all existing shop content and expansion packs will be available free to all current members until the service shuts down.

EGM’s TAKE: It’s been a good run for the online component of Metal gear Solid, however the stealth gameplay never really transferred to multiplayer, which is probably a good thing for the series overall. The franchise has always been about singe-player and story, which is something that never plays well with multiplayer. Hopefully Konami has learned its lesson and future Metal Gear games will bypass online components.