Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is finally set for release next week and the reviews so far have been stellar. With this potentially being Hideo Kojima's last Metal Gear title with Konami, the developer is looking to go out with a bang as players dive into the open world to experience the story of Naked Snake aka Big Boss.

As fans continue to wait for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain to release, some potentially troubling news has recently surfaced surrounding one of the game's online modes. If the reports are true, fans may need to throw down a little extra money to start playing online.

Based on information from reviewers, Forward Operating Base, one of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's competitive online modes, looks to be restricted behind a paywall once the game launches on September 1. In The Phantom Pain, players use resources or items found in the main campaign to develop and build a massive base of operations called Mother Base. F.O.B. mode allows players to attack other player's bases they've created in an effort to steal resources for their own.

In order to access this feature, players need to spend real money to unlock an item known as MB Coins. These coins then open up a new area on the map next to the main Mother Base location to make space for a PVP-dedicated base. Players then build out this new fortress by assigning manpower and other resources to defend it from other players while seeking to attack other player bases as well.

So far, Forward Operating Base is the only confirmed microtransaction mode within Metal Gear Solid 5. The main online experience, Metal Gear Online, has previously been confirmed by Konami to not include any sort of pricing model or microtransactions. The mode itself won't be available until October 6 for consoles and even later on January 2016 for PC players.

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While fans got a brief glimpse at the potential of microtransactions a few months back, this is the first full confirmation of its inclusion within the game. Unfortunately, Konami continues to remain quiet on the topic of Forward Operating Base as all online modes are not yet functional until the game launches on September 1. Since online functionality has not yet been activated, the pricing model for this mode is also not yet known.

Microtransactions remain a divisive mechanic for gamers and with the rocky few months Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has had due to the souring relationship between Kojima and Konami, this new bit of information is surely to complicate matters more. Granted, many speculate that the origins of the rift resulted from a spiraling budget and money concerns, so news that microstransactions are in the game shouldn't be too surprising.

As development costs continue to rise, microtransactions can be seen as a quick and easy way to gain some of those costs back. The popularity of this mechanic continues to rise for publishers and developers as more and more games add in certain elements which offer players ways to unlock content for real money. Halo 5: Guardians was the latest game to announce microtransactions which will be available in their new Warzones multiplayer mode.

How do you guys feel about microtransactions being used in this way? Is this the final straw or are you fine with having that restriction? Lets strike up a conversation below!

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is schedule for release on September 1, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Gamespot