The Metal Gear games have grown out to be one of the most recognizable franchises in all of gaming. Considered by many to be Hideo Kojima's magnum opus, the series has pumped out multiple entries with each garnering huge critical and commercial acclaim.
After the Konami-Kojima breakup following the release of Metal Gear Solid 5, many have made peace with the fact that the series has now met its untimely demise. However, the strange Tom Olsen Twitter fiasco might have lightened up the hopes of many fans about a potential announcement for a new game.
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Ever since Hideo Kojima parted ways with Konami, the Metal Gear brand has been left hanging in oblivion. That's not to say that Konami did not try to capitalize on its popularity, but the disastrous Metal Gear Survive practically forced the company to put the franchise on hold. Rumors have been swirling around regarding a potential remake of the Metal Gear Solid games, with many reporting that Bluepoint Games would be given the task and the collection would be a PS5 exclusive.
Such speculation can't be outright denied or proven at the time of this writing, but the strange occurrence of a Twitter account further fanned the flames of expectations. A Twitter user by the name of Tom Olsen who claimed to work at the Big Shell was constantly found tweeting out images of the Big Shell facility from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty with clever captions. A recurring theme of having visitors could be found consistently throughout his tweets, and the official Metal Gear Twitter also jumped on for some hearty chatter.
This led many fans to assume that a potential Metal Gear announcement is due soon, particularly given the Tom Olsen account's creation date and the Metal Gear account's interaction with it.
As Half-Life's G-Man says, "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference." All the stars seemed to align as fans expected an announcement very soon. However, to everyone's disappointment, the person behind the Tom Olsen Twitter handle published a YouTube video wherein he claims that the account was just made to celebrate Metal Gear Solid 2's upcoming 20th anniversary. As it turns out, Tom Olsen was created with a single purpose-to show the fan's appreciation for the game. Dismissing these tweets would have been much easier if the official Metal Gear Twitter hadn't interacted with the account.
The video itself is worth a watch, as the fan further goes into detail as to how all of this suddenly blew out of proportion as the rumor mill started doing its works. While it was suggested that fans shouldn't get their hopes up for a Metal Gear announcement anytime soon, many started fueling the fires with far-sighted speculation which eventually got fans convinced that a tease was due. The most interesting bit of information seems that the happenings are directly at odds with a point that Metal Gear Solid 2 made almost 20 years ago, that the rapid spread of false information can change the perception of truth.