Konami has announced that the online component of Metal Gear Solid 4 will shut down today, June 12. It was only supposed to be online for three years, however the publisher decided to extend the mode an extra year out of respect to loyal fans.

“We have regretfully come to a point where players have experienced all that this iteration of Metal Gear Online is able to offer,” reads a statement issued by Konami. ”It saddens us to announce that we have decided to end online service with the upcoming fourth anniversary of online service.”

Metal Gear Online was met with mixed reviews when it launched, some fans loved the fact that they could enjoy the experience with friends, while others thought that it diluted the Metal Gear experience. I’m on the side of the latter. Metal Gear is a single-player game and always will be. The highly tuned stealth gameplay is never going to translate to online. Playing as a generic soldier trying to capture Snake, is nowhere near as fun as actually playing as him, and this is where the game failed.

The servers will close today, June 12 at 11:59 P.M. JST or 9:59 A.M. EDT.

Did you enjoy the game? Will you be sad to see it close?