The highly anticipated title, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, is now only a month and a half away from release and by all accounts looks to continue the excellence the series is known for. Fans also got a great look at the game through extended gameplay demos showing off multiple ways to tackle a mission.

Unfortunately, the development period for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain hasn't always been smooth, as a rift developed earlier this year between parent company Konami and Metal Gear's legendary developer, Hideo Kojima. Things have gotten uglier as the months have passed and now there are reports of a brand new issue surfacing, reminding gamers how bad things have gotten between the two.

After a relative quiet period between the two sides, hostilities have seemingly once again bubbled to the surface as Konami has decided that all references to Hideo Kojima have been removed from the game's recently revealed box art.

Discovered by the folks at NeoGaf, the recently released box art has a number of changes which were not present one the originally released version. On the bottom right corner, the Kojima Productions studio logo has been completely removed while the phrase "A Hideo Kojima Game" has also been entirely removed at the top of the box as well.

Sadly, this isn't the first time Konami has attempted something like this. The company famously went to great lengths earlier this year to remove Kojima's name and brand from as many things as possible including Metal Gear titles on their website, rebranded a few Twitter accounts, and even suspended his popular Kojima Station Broadcast. Without warning, Konami then did an about face and added his name back to a few places where they just removed it.

The situation appears to be so bad that even voice actors have started to chime in offering an opinion on the situation. Just recently, the Japanese voice actor playing Snake has revealed that Kojima Productions was forced to disband by Konami. This echoes similar sentiments brought to light earlier this year by iDroid voice actors, Donna Burke and Akio Otsuka, claiming that Kojima was fired and the split was less than amicable.

What's your take on this seemingly never ending battle between Kojima and Konami? Does this news affect your purchasing decision at all?

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is set to launch on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on September 1, with a PC release following two weeks later.

Source: NeoGAF