David Hayter not returning for MGS5, Kojima never asked him

StickSkills.com writes, "Seemingly missing from the Metal Gear Solid V was the voice of Snake/Big Boss David Hayter. What was the reason behind this? There doesn’t really seem to be one."

[PirateThom]

Again, I can only assume it's to make way to differentiate the now older Big Boss from Naked and Solid Snake.

Metal Gear 2 remake with Big Boss getting set on fire by Solid Snake would just be weird with David Hayter talking to himself.

All I want is Richard Doyle voicing Big Boss from here on out.

[Number-Nine]

It's better off this way. If they ever make a game where Big Boss and Solid Snake converse, having 2 guys with the same voice actor will be rather odd

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Exactly. I've always felt that their voices should have been different.

But Naked and Solid having the same voice did make me pay a lot of attention to their personalities.

[Mounce]

My only question about this is this factor....

If the voice actors truly are changing in this direction for this purpose. Than why is it with the Jap Dub that was what we had heard in the first Ground Zeroes trailer. That the voice actor for Big Boss hadn't changed?.... The same rules would apply for the Japanese Dub of MGS too.

So, why is it just Eng DUB unless they're changing VA for Jap Big Boss too? At that, who Voice acted Big Boss in MGS4 for the Japanese if it was someone else as well?...

[WiiUsauce]

But Solid Snake is a clone, so you would expect him to sound the same as Big Boss.

[SideShort]

Well, at the end of MGS4 they did converse remember? Big Boss also had a different voice actor, though in MGS 3 it was Hayter.

[contradictory]

@WiiUsauce Liquid Snake was a clone too but he sure as hell didn't sound like big boss

[Razmossis]

What makes you think Snake and Big Boss are going to be conversing?
Metal Gear 2 is set in the year 2000.
We are assuming Big Boss slips into his coma in 1972 for the les enfants terribles project to happen.
Waking up 9 years later would mean it's 1981 and Solid Snake is about 9 years old lol.

Still not getting why David Hayter isn't voicing Big Boss. It's still a long way off before he's properly old

[Number-Nine]

@ razmossis

if they ever decide to remake the original Metal Gear which takes place in '95, both big boss and solid snake will have some dialog towards each other.

and big boss cant slip into a coma in 1972, it wouldnt make sense. If he's in a coma for 9 years then the events of Peace Walker would never have happened.

les enfants terribles project already happened anyway. thats why big boss started MSF.

[FungLip]

@ Mounce

Another fun fact to consider:

Akio Ôtsuka (Japanese VA for Solid Snake) voiced BOTH Solid Snake and Solidus Snake in MGS2 while different VAs voiced them in the English dub.

[Transporter47]

Different character, wouldn't make sense to use the same voice for a different character from the same universe

[morganfell]

Always wanted Richard Doyle as Big Boss. I wanted it for Peacewalker and it didn't happen.

His past performance as Big Boss is for me personally one of the best pieces of v/o work ever and he seems more like Big Boss whereas Hayter always seemed like Solid to me.

WARNING MGS4 SPOILER (SPOILER FOR ENTIRES SERIES TO DATE):

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[NatureOfLogic]

You guys can underestimate the important of this all day long. I'm a hardcore MGS fan. I haven't missed a single mgs( All of them ), But if David Hayter is not the VA for Snake this game I 100% won't buy this game. I can't begin to express my rage towards this. David Hayter IS Snake and if anyone else tries voice Snake, It just wouldn't be the same for me. Good thing it's releasing on current gen. It Shows all the bad decisions that's been made this gen. This seems like a slap in the face of core fans. No David Hayter, No buy for me. I'm hoping this is not true, because I really want play it. I'm tired of devs not taking core fans in to consideration when making these decisions. I won't support it.

[nypifisel]

What a silly thing to say, you say you're a core fan yet you won't play the next MGS cause Hayter isn't doing the voice? Then why did you play MGS4? Richard Doyle is perfect for the aged Big Boss and I hope it'll be so. You call yourself a core fan.. hpmf, you're not a core fan. And I'm saying this even though I as so many other love the iconic voice Hayter created for Snake, I love it just as much as you do, doesn't mean I'm blinded though.

[Tydeus]

To me David Hayter is Solid Snake, not Big Boss. Not playing a game simply because Hayter is no longer voicing Big Boss is a little pathetic, especially since you call yourself an hardcore fan. You're a fan of the series because of the story not because the voice actor is awesome.

And actually, reading the twitter comments on the full story. I smell something fishy. "I had a good run" Naw.. Hayter will be in the game. They'll probably have a Solid Snake cameo when he first joins Foxhound or something as a prelude to Metal Gear 1 :P

[Shadowlurker]

People seem to be forgetting that the Ground Zeroes part of the game is only weeks after PW.. AND that the original Japanese VA is still voicing him during that part, So it's possible Hayter is white lying and he's voicing BB during the GS part and Richard Doyle is voicing him in the 9 years later post-coma part of the game.. However it didn't really sound like Doyle either....

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

Hayters voice, in my eyes, was one of the only things holding back the series from becoming the most elite single player experience ive ever played.

His voice has always gotten on my nerves. far too cliche for the role he voices.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

I feel your pain KingElixir and David Hayter is Big Boss and it just feels weird hearing a different guy voice him. Richard Doyle is a brilliant alternative though and they should use him for MGS5. Thing is though they should never have used Hayter for Big Boss in the first place, but now they have and this is the mess that we are left with. Not buying the game because of a characters voice though is silly, have you seen the trailer? it looks too awesome to pass up and it looks like it could be the best MGS yet. I know it's hard to get used to it but it's not worth missing out on the game entirely.

[RumbleFish]

This argument is difficult. I can understand when they say David Hayter is Solid Snake, but my favorite MGS game is MGS3 so I really can't say that David isn't Big Boss...

[TheXonySbox]

he wanted too much $$$ so they just hired a new actor is all.

[BoNeSaW23]

Did you just make that up? Where did you get that info from? Source please.

[edgeofsins]

He said he loved voicing Snake in an interview. He said that it was the only acting career he still worked on at the time of the interview I saw earlier. They have plenty of money and I am sure he wouldn't argue much with payment since he really loves MGS and voicing Snake.

[Soldierone]

Didn't they hire the same voice actor for the Japanese version? So that excuse makes no sense.

They also don't need to have him voice both characters, similar to MGS4. As long as the characters are separate, then its fine. Hayter voiced Big Boss before..... After all Solid is just a clone of him....

[porkChop]

Yeah, it seems to be the same Japanese VA.

[Knight_Crawler]

I vote for Samuel L Jackson as Snake.

"I have had it with these motherflooping snakes on this motherflooping plane!"

"Say 'snake' again!!! say 'snake' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherflooper, say 'snake' one more goddamn time!"

[Prodigy-X]

Why didn't he ask him >:(

[KwietStorm_BLM]

To be honest, Hayter hasn't sounded like he was still so fond of the role as of late anyway.

[TheXonySbox]

Thats what happens when you get rejected; you justify why you never wanted it in the first place.

AKA hes washed up.

[WUTCHUGUNNADO]

Not fond of his only notable role since Guyver in 1994... right. He is Snake.

[Eamon]

This article is so ridiculous. Kojima has little to no involvement in the localization of Metal Gear Solid. To say Kojima never asked him makes no sense since Kojima has never asked him to do past MGS games anyway.

And Hayter said the first time he met Kojima face to face was after the launch of MGS4.

[kane_1371]

Actually in the past making of the game interviews the staff repeatedly said that everything about the game must go through Kojima and that it is like he is a dictator running a country.
he decides every single aspect of the game

[Eamon]

Yes, actual game design - not localization. Localization happens off-shore outside of Japan. Sure Kojima may set some guidelines so stuff doesn't get lost in translation, however it's the Konami localization team that bring us the quality voice acting.

[knifefight]

He's being a Hayter hater.

[2pacalypsenow]

Boooooooooooo

[NastyLeftHook0]

david will ALWAYS be snake in my eyes.

[majiebeast]

I smell Kojima troll.

[first1NFANTRY]

him not sure how i feel about this.

[EdoubleD]

Solid Snake = David Hayter
Naked Snake = Richard Doyle

This is a good way of making Big Boss distinct.

[porkChop]

Except Richard Doyle never played Naked Snake. He only played him as Big Boss, and that was when Big Boss was 79 years old at the end of MGS4. In GZ Big Boss is 39, and in TPP Big Boss is 48.

David Hayter has played Naked Snake in MGS3 and Portable Ops, and he played as Big Boss in Peace Walker. GZ takes place shortly after Peace Walker, so the change in voice actor just does not make sense. Even in TPP Doyle's voice would be way too old for the character.

But if you watch the trailer, it's not even Richard Doyle playing Big Boss. It's an entirely new VA, and he sounds younger than both Hayter and Doyle, and has a very smooth, clean voice, as opposed to the gruff, raspy voice that Big Boss is supposed to have. The voice does not match the character at all, they butchered it.

[Ritsujun]

DH will not be missed.

[EdoubleD]

Ah yes, when I hear it. It doesn't sound like him. I was thinking, in the debut trailer.
When 'Miller' said.''What about him?'' It made me think, what if this story after the GZ section isn't about Big Boss?

When you think about it, it is really unfortunate that David Hayter isn't going to be in this one. But I was trying to stay in the optimistic side before dooming the game. I mean, I'm gonna stick with MGS till it's very last breath.

[ginsunuva]

First Ironside, now Hayter....?

[nevin1]

That voice for snake is iconic.

[ziggurcat]

:(

[NewsForSnowflakes]

His voice is going to be Day 1 DLC.

[Unztayble]

hahaha!

[BigBoss1964]

Wtf is going on? no Micheal Ironside as Sam Fisher and now no David Hayter as Snake? I am very disappointed

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

Im certain that they have someone else play Big Boss just there can be some difference between Naked and Solid Snake. Kojima says he is not done with Solid yet so hes probably in the game and voiced by David Hayter.

[Blaze929]

sit down Nolan North

[Prcko]

why.what? omg kojima wtf?

[Nate-Dog]

Still don't get why people are so up in arms about it. Voice-acting is usually done very late on, for all we know the person voice-acting Snake in that scene (which sounds like Sutherland) is just doing it for that section in place before they finish the game. Anyway Hayter has been great as Snake, but he has had a good 7 games from MGS1 to Peace Walker. Time to move on I think.

[fsfsxii]

Hayter played Big Boss in PW, and MGSV comes a week after PW, so, Big Boss's voice changed in a week?? Kojima HAS to be trolling as usual

[chromiumtwist]

Try 9 years. It says in the gameplay.

[LeBart]

The first part of the game takes place right after Peace Walker.

[fsfsxii]

It would make sense if he changed the voice after Big Boss wakes up from the coma

[Zechs34]

Same thing happened with Revengeance. Quinton Flynn swore that nobody contacted him and that he was not going to play Raiden and here we are today.

The theories that call for a different voice actor for story line purposes make a lot of sense but I wouldn't discount Hayter entirely out yet. The guy has voiced Snake going on 3 generations now.

[MGS_fanatico_]

It felt awful not hearing the Snake voice I grew up with.. =/
Unless a young Solid makes an appearance, I really don't get this!
No one will be able to replace David Hayer! David IS Snake, damn it!!
I for one don't condone this shit one bit!

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

I'd be fine with Richard Doyle as Big Boss.

EDIT: We may be getting trolled. I think David Hayter will still be in the game but he'll likely be a boss fight at the end and that's why they need someone like Richard Doyle to be Big Boss.

[MattyG]

Guys, this isn't Solid Snake. They used a different VA for Naked Snake in MGS4 and no one complained then. If they do keep it this way, its just to make a clear difference between Solid and Naked.

[porkChop]

Dude, Big Boss was 79 years old at the end of MGS4. Ground Zeroes, the prologue, takes place shortly after Peace Walker. Hayter voiced Big Boss in Peace Walker, but they've got a completely different, younger-sounding VA doing the voice in Ground Zeroes. It does not make any sense at all. Even in TPP he'll only be 48. The change in voice actor makes zero sense.

[feedurhabit]

Hayters gon' Hayte

[roughromantic]

I'm a long time gamer (since 1978) and owned almost every console but never sunk my teeth into the Metal Gear Solid series. That is until recently I tried part 3 in the HD remake and could not believe how horrible his voice acting was. It's incredibly overdone to sound the typical cliche graveled voice machoman. Something I've heard countless times before.

I look forward to a new voice actor.

[Tapani]

I get where you are coming from and I partly agree with you.

However, MGS series voice acting doesn't take itself seriously. Once you start noticing those jokes in the text the VA truly has you.

I admit, it might sound a little bit funny at first. It takes half a game to get used to. In MGS3, the later half after the jungle has better "performances" in it.

It all builds up. Also, the voice actors are quite cunning in many places, the text is well-thought.

[KrimsonKody]

I respect your opinion on wanting to hear a new voice, but bot quite with the Snake voice cliche'ness.
See, I don't want to sound cliche & say "oh, you would have to have played the series to understandhis voice", but it's actually true.
The purpose of Snakes' voice sounding gritty is not to sound tough & typical, but it's to reflect his life.
The tortures
(SPOILER!! IF YOU ONLY PLAYED MGS3)
The alteration of genes aging him.
The heavy cigarette smoking
The pains he's endured, physically & emotionally.
All these things, no doubt, helped him develop the voice that he has.
So, the way Snake's voice sounds does have its reasons, purpose & history. His voice is not one of those "oh, he must be tough so make him sound like this" type of thing.

Now, I do agree in the sense that depending on how young Snake is at the time, it could make sense to reduce the raspy'ness & lighten the voice to make it sound more youthful. But that doesn't change the fact that Hayter is the man for the voice.
Oh, & ironically, the version of his voice you heard is one of the younger versions of his voice (since he's much older in MGS1, 2 & 4).

Don't be a Hayter!
;^>

[Tapani]

That voice actor differentiator fact never occurred to me!

Therefore I imagined what if Konami had all the pre-production and graphics / design direction decided and after 3 months when the development starts Kojima goes "Who's going to be VA for Naked Snake?" "...Hayter!" -- "Okay, who's going to be VA for ... wait... what the... holy S...!" then everyone in the meeting room burst into laughter and they just go and drink it away in the local izakaya and life goes on.

Woah!

[sourav93]

"War has changed..." :'(

[clintagious650]

I feel bad for him since hes been the voice actor since the 1st mgs game. Hope kojima hooks him up with something down the line.

[CaptainYesterday]

This makes me really sad I thought Snake sounded different in today's demo :(

[Sarobi]

Hayter is and always will be the only Solid Snake

[Shuyin]

Yeah.. Solid..not Naked.

[DangerousDAN]

Big Boss is at the old age where he starts to sound like what Richard Doyle presented in MGS4. It wouldn't make sense to give us that then still have David Hayter's younger voice.
One could argue that Solid Snake got old as well (MSG4) and still sounded like himself (Hayter), but I could also argue that he became old in a fast, unnatural, unstable way, hindering the natural development of his voice, too. So, Hayter's exclusion doesn't really deteriorate the coherence of the character's development. We'll miss the fuck out of him, that's for sure
My argument and it makes sense to me.

[nypifisel]

It's a very good argument and should make sense to everyone +bubble!

[Jek_Porkins]

This is pretty upsetting, it's along the lines of Michael Ironside not voicing Sam Fisher in the new Splinter Cell game.

The only worse one for me personally would be someone else voicing the Chief!

[BananaEatingSquid]

David Hayter better be returning :(

Jack Bauer is Jack Bauer, not Snake.

[DeadManMcCarthy]

You're kidding right? Kiefer Sutherland is playing the bandaged guy not Big Boss. Big Boss sounds like Richard Doyle.

[BananaEatingSquid]

Kiefer Sutherland is rumored to be playing Big Boss as well, I was referring to that. I hope it's not him though.

I just started watching 24 a few months ago so there is no way I'm going to be able to stop thinking "Jack Bauer" while playing this. I still hope Kojima is somehow trolling us.

[DeadManMcCarthy]

Oh ok, my bad dude, you actually may be right about that. I just noticed that Ishmael and Big Boss both sound like Kiefer. I agree, I don't get why they would choose a high profile actor to play a high profile video game character.

I wish they hired the same guy who did Solidus Snake's voice because he's the perfect clone of Big Boss, so i'd expect him to sound the same as him.

[Batzi]

Mark my words, David Hayter will be in MGS5 and NO he won't be voicing Big Boss. Hayter will be in MGS5 because he will be voicing Solid Snake. Solid Snake will be in MGS5.

[Shadowlurker]

People seem to be forgetting that the Ground Zeroes part of the game is only weeks after PW.. AND that the original Japanese VA is still voicing him during that part, So it's possible Hayter is white lying and he's voicing BB during the GS part and Richard Doyle is voicing him in the 9 years later post-coma part of the game.. However it didn't really sound like Doyle either...

[Omar91]

:'( I cant see playing as naked snake and hearing some soft clean voice as oppose to the raspy rough voice from David Hayter. I'm extremely upset about this.

[DeadManMcCarthy]

David Hayter isn't very good at doing the older Snake voices anyway, he's only good at playing the younger Snakes.

He could still return if Solid Snake is in the game.

[Edito]

David is part of Metal Gear Solid DNA so i think this will be one of the weakest MGS for me cause his voice is just to powerfull and im realy attached to the voice of snake and didn't expect Hideo to do such thing im a bit down i must say and it affected my feeling for this game...

[OWWO]

no david hayter no ps3 exclusivity. great

[susanto1228]

Day 1 purchase for me. And I'm going to miss his voice.

[WitWolfy]

So no Cameo no nothing?!?!?! WTF I expected better from you Kojima!

[Sandmano]

Snake? Snake!? Snaaaaakeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

[Jdoki]

I wonder how many people screaming about not buying MGS5 because a voice actor hasn't been used will really follow through.

I find it amusing that people throw tantrums about this stuff when:
1. We know almost nothing about this game, so no idea how Hayter would / would not fit in.
2. If Kojima has dropped Hayter it may be with good reason for the series
3. It wouldn't be the first time Kojima pulled the wool over peoples eyes, maybe there will be a twist to this story
4. Even if Hayter has been dropped. It is not the end of the world

[leahcim]

I never think that I would say this...

WRONG DECISION KOJIMA.

For me:

METAL GEAR - David Hayter = INCOMPLETE MG

[PCfanboy]

David Hayter bad actor playing his voice in MGS4 & MGS3 was terrible.

[frelyler]

It's a very simple explanation. This character is not snake, solid snake. It's something / someone different and it has to do with the story. It wouldn't be so without a reason behind it. We all know the crazy stories Kojima comes up with and just because it looks like snake does not mean there is'nt something up Kojima's sleeve.

[Unztayble]

Doesn't matter to me if it's Hayter or not as long as it's quality. I really believe that the next MGS games are either gonna be remakes or re-imaginings of the MSX versions. So Hayter's not done with SOLID! Snake.

Anyways, we should all just be happy that we're getting more Metal Gear from Kojima.

[jakmckratos]

Well that's lame. I don't play the game and I understanding the varying nature of SNake is a confsing one( What with the Big Boss or something) but I don't really ever like to hear a voice actor who's known for doing an awesome job not get hired back...I can't imagine anyone but Nolan North for Uncharted and the same goes for a lot of other series. David Hayter will get other gigs but I'm sure he'll miss being the voice of a franchise

[gamerstation151]

I suppose this is a good thing. For two reasons.

1: We need Metal Gear to survive without David Hayter.
2: We need Big Boss's voice to change with age.

I'm glad this was Kojima's choice but I'm not happy with who he chose to replace him with. He sounds like Nathan Drake is trying to gravel his voice up.

[o-Sunny-o]

Send in the CLONES! KEPT YOU WAITING HUH? Vering !o_o! David Hayter stars new young clone called small snake. lol.

[HiGwA]

While i believe this is Kojima's April Fool's joke... But if its not, I would understand that it might be time to start differentiating Solid Snake, and Big Boss' voice.

[KrimsonKody]

I'm going to get me a graphic tee shirt made saying in big bold letters;
"Don't Be A Hayter!".
That would be ultra hot!
& 90% of the people who sees it will either think it's a typo or something.
But they won't know...
They won't know.

[GamerElite]

Hayters gonna hayte

[devilhunterx]

!

[Enigma_2099]

... maybe the main character isn't Solid Snake?

Look, I love the guy too, but seriously. How many times do you want them to put him in the game?

[Incipio]

Hayter had a good run. Let's bring on the new talent.

[kingPoS]

Wow! So this is what it's like in japan when a long running Seiyū calls it. To me, David Hayter will always be Solid Snake. I guess it makes sense when some folks in japan raise a fuss when a favored voice is replaced.

Ps his name perfect... no homo. lol

[MegaLagann]

While it is upsetting at first, I HOPE the reasoning is because Big Boss is older now, kind of like in MGS4 where he had a different voice actor. If that was the case I would be okay with it. But if he's not voicing Snake anymore than it would be a shame and it wouldn't fell right. Like having Troy Baker voice Mario. Or maybe Kojima is just trolling the fans again, who knows?

[xBigxBossx]

Again you should think of the troll Kojima is... I bet David Hayter will take a cameo if solid snake appears in this game. He just won't voice Vic Boss

[linkenski]

This might be for the better, but it's kinda hard as a fan to let go of the old voice. It feels like it's just a part of Snake's identity by now :/

[KaBaW]

I do enjoy the MG games, but I've missed many that it makes me confused. :/
Anyway, I do enjoy Hayter VA of Snake, but hopefully they bring in someone good.