Why MGS4 Is Missing The Iconic Theme Tune

screenrant.com:

Metal Gear Solid 4 is often regarded as one of the PlayStation 3's best titles and a worthy addition to the popular franchise, but the series' iconic theme tune was noticeably absent for legal reasons.MGS4 proved to be a big selling point for the PlayStation 3 console when it was released on June 12, 2008, with its release week seeing PS3 sales numbers skyrocket from their average the time. The series has often received praise for its music, in part due to its cinematic feel brought in by composer Harry Gregson-Williams for MGS2, although MGS publisher Konami wanted Hans Zimmer as their first choice.

Music has gone on to play a large part in the Metal Gear Solid series, from radio stations in MGS3 that the player could tune into and restore stamina to the iPod in MGS4 with tracks the player could find across the game, as well as some released in the form of DLC by Konami. Over the course of the series' history, many elements from the games have faced cuts, with series director Hideo Kojima often talking about ideas he had for the various titles that never quite made it into the final cut. However, when it comes to the game's soundtrack, Konami proved that it wasn't afraid to turn to the charts, with MGS5's soundtrack being popular on Spotify thanks to its selection of popular 80s hits.

Related: Why Metal Gear Solid Recast Snake's Voice For MGS5

However, one big omission from MGS4 was the series' iconic theme song, thanks to a disagreement with a group of Russian composers, as covered by YouTuber DidYouKnowGaming. Composer Norihiko Hibino stated that it was claimed that the track was plagiarized from a track for a Russian film called Metel by Russian composer Georgy Vasilevich Sviridov, though Hibino stated that this