Ever since the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain last week, fans have undoubtedly been busy exploring the vast open world that Hideo Kojima has created for them. Whether it's completing the story, unlocking Snake's infinity bandana, or trying to uncover all of the hidden secrets such as the game's P.T. Easter egg, players ought to remain occupied for quite some time.

Recently, to many fans' appreciation, we gave gamers a solid guide on how to defeat and recruit Quiet, the stealth-action title's sniper extraordinaire. However, players need to be careful as to when they bring her along for missions, because she's connected to a bug that corrupts saves on all of Metal Gear Solid 5's platforms and has the potential to wipe out all headway made thus far.

While the news isn't good, there's at least a silver lining in that it's avoidable. Nevertheless, it requires players to sacrifice the use of Quiet as a partner in mission 29 or 42. There aren't very many buddies that Big Boss can bring along with him for quests, but as far as the previously mentioned missions go, the scantily-clad female assassin should be considered out of commission until the game publisher resolves the issue.

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Konami hasn't officially made a statement as to whether or not a patch is being developed to fix the issue, but it's safe to assume that one is in progress. With the problem simply lying in the act of using Quiet in one of two specific missions, it's strange that the rather noticeable bug made it through quality testing and into the final product. Plus, should it not be rectified quickly, the fans that made MGS 5's sales the best in the series will undoubtedly become disappointed.

This technical error makes for yet another blemish in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's history, as the game faced many difficulties prior to its release. For instance, many fans wondered whether or not Kojima Productions would finish the title, after Hideo Kojima's and Konami's split. Not to mention once the game hit store shelves and online marketplaces, the Japanese-based publisher made sure to scrub all mentions of Kojima's studio from the box art.

At any rate, should Konami make sure that the Quiet-related bug gets squashed, then fans will be able to continue experiencing what tons of critics are considering to be Kojima's finest achievement to date without having to worry about their progress being erased. Make sure to keep checking back with us here at Game Rant for the latest updates on this issue.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is available now for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Konami Europe (via VG 24/7)