Now, there are all kinds of cheesy puns you could make about the game struggling to survive, but let’s just cut to the chase: Early data regarding Metal Gear Survive sales is in, and it’s not looking good at all.

When it comes to the big early releases of 2018, Survive really didn’t get much of a look in. January and February have mostly been about the likes of Monster Hunter World, with a liberal dash of Bayonetta thrown in for owners of Nintendo Switch. Even still, the Metal Gear name alone carries a lot of weight, and was enough in and of itself to keep it on gamers’ radars.

Or so you’d have thought. The game has been available worldwide for around a week now, and Eurogamer brings us the game’s sorry situation following its release in the UK. According to Chart-Track, which deals exclusively with boxed retail copies sold, Survive placed sixth, behind Monster Hunter World at fourth and the utterly unstoppable Grand Theft Auto V at second.

On Steam, meanwhile, the game is around an abysmal 65th place in terms of player count. Perhaps most damning of all, the report goes on, 2013’s Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance sold at almost twice the rate that Survive currently is.

Metal Gear Survive Is Not Selling Well
Via: wccftech.com

There are a number of factors contributing to this situation. Firstly, of course, Metal Gear Survive is not a fully-fledged Metal Gear title, nor has it ever purported to be. It’s very rare that a spin-off is able to challenge a main series entry, regardless of franchise. This is an experimental, let’s give it a shot sort of affair, like Resident Evil offshoot Umbrella Corps (and we all know what a crock of crapola that turned out to be).

Not only that, but this is the first Metal Gear produced since the departure of head honcho Hideo Kojima. There was always going to be a certain stigma around that. In addition, as the main man himself has stated, Survive is absolutely nothing to do with the franchise he created. Co op zombie-blasting action? No thanks. “That’s nothing to do with me!” he told IGN. “The Metal Gear games are about political fiction and espionage… where do zombies fit in with that?”

As it stands, Metal Gear Survive holds a score of 65 on Metacritic, which is essentially the very definition of subpar. The game may not be outright awful, but there’s simply no call to run out and buy it, whether for franchise fans or otherwise. It’s not the most auspicious start for the series, post-Kojima.