And Konami's reaction

"You might be able to erase the markings, but the memories will never disappear." That's what a Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes mission had to say about scrubbing away the logos for all the Metal Gear games. In hindsight, that certainly seems foreboding of what would eventually happen between Hideo Kojima and Konami.

YouTuber timesplitter88 captured the Ground Zeroes "Deja Vu" mission where the player acts as Metal Gear Solid-era Snake. A small part of that requires erasing Kojima's titles from existence. It seems innocuous enough at the time, but given the fractured relationship between the series creator and the publisher, it carries a lot more weight now. After all, it was only last week that word came out that Kojima's name wouldn't be featured on The Phantom Pain's box art.

Time will tell how Konami handles the rest of Kojima's library. If it decides to go the erasure route, then Kaz's words will ring particularly prophetic: "The memories will never disappear."