With Konami’s excellent remake of Naked Snake’s first ever adventure making waves among fans and newcomers alike, the studio is gearing up for the release of FOX Hunt, the online multiplayer mode that has had fans excited to dive into its unique loop for a while now.
Putting its players into the shoes of FOX operatives in battles that pit them against each other, this addition to the game is all set to bring stealth, style, and substance to the core experience. There’s been quite a bit of information about FOX Hunt, coming straight from Konami during a showcase of its gameplay at TGS 2025.
If you’re curious to learn more about this new addition to Delta: Snake Eater, we’ve put all of the important information right here for you to look into. Let’s dive right in!
Two Game Modes, Twice The Fun
Let’s get the basics out of the way first. FOX Hunt is playable in two game modes, each coming with its own unique challenges as you try to one-up your opponents. The first option is Survival Capture, which is going to have you hunting down Kerotan Frogs across the map ahead of your opponents until you or your teammates are the last ones standing.
Each battle is going to be spread across three phases, allowing you a limited amount of time to achieve your objectives before you’re yeeted out of the arena in case you fail. In Capture mode, that means you’re going to want to have a Kerotan Frog in your possession before time runs out. You can either find them out in the open or steal them from your opponents and vice versa. In the event that you’re downed, you respawn and have until the phase ends to get your hands on another one.
Survival Intrude, on the other hand, is about positioning yourself inside a safe zone that decreases over time as each phase wears on, requiring you to be quite intelligent about how and where you conceal yourself, and to manage your spaces. It’s a mode that might be familiar to Metal Gear Online fans, albeit with its own twists. Once again, being taken out by an opponent means that you respawn and must make your way back to safety before the phase timer runs out.
You know what you need to do. But it isn’t a Metal Gear experience if you don’t have a bunch of cool tricks and gear to make the job fun, isn’t it? Thankfully, FOX Hunt has a few interesting presents for your operative in that regard.
Dressed For The Occasion
The first important tool that you’re going to be using quite a lot is your All Terrain Camo (AT-CAMO) suit. This nifty piece of gear is the bread and butter of FOX Hunt’s gameplay loop, and does exactly what its name suggests!
It essentially lets you become a part of the background wherever you are, letting you quickly disguise yourself as a part of the terrain you’re on, just like Naked Snake does in the main story. Your opponents could literally pass right by you as you try your best to avoid being spotted, lie in wait for an ambush, or perhaps hold your position as you wait for a phase to end.
It brings the potential for a lot of intelligent players to make the most of the game’s stealth mechanics and perhaps take them to new heights with their creativity. You see, you might even choose a disguise that doesn’t necessarily match the terrain you’re on, but makes logical sense for its existence. For instance, choosing to be a patch of grass on a stone surface, or perhaps as stones on muddy ground. The possibilities are endless, and we’re certain we’re going to see very creative attempts to fool other players once FOX Hunt is available to play.
AT-CAMO Suits aside, the other important tool in your arsenal is Naked Sense. Once again, your FOX operative seems to have learned a thing or two from the man who was the star of the unit and can hone their senses to detect enemies and useful items in their immediate vicinity. That sounds awesome until you learn of the limitations that come with it, though.
For starters, you’re going to want to use Naked Sense to find food items as you make your way across the map. That’s because your ability to use it is directly tied to your stamina, and you’re going to want to grab a bite from time to time if you want to keep using it. And Konami has thrown another deadly caveat into the mix.
Your opponents can detect when you use Naked Sense, easily identifying where you’re hiding away if you have it active for more than a few moments. However, that also works the other way around, meaning that you and your enemies are going to have to be very tactical about how you use Naked Sense to get the drop on each other. Coupled with the AT-CAMO Suits, FOX Hunt is sure to bring a novel yet familiar take on the Metal Gear formula once you dive into either of its two modes.
It’s an exercise in balancing the risk versus the reward of using your abilities to their fullest potential. You’re going to want to be smart about where you hide, and how you decide to use your heightened senses to fulfill your objective, with failure resulting in your elimination. Forcing your foes to make mistakes could be one way to do it, but staying on the down low and just going about your mission is equally viable as a strategy. It’s all up to you and how you and your team decide to play things. Perhaps you could strike a balance between both approaches!
But there are other wrinkles to its gameplay loop that are sure to keep you on your toes.
Play Well, And Keep At It
Any good FOX operative would know that things aren’t always as easy as they seem on the surface. That’s especially true for FOX Hunt, since your suit and Naked Sense aren’t the only things that can keep you in the fight. For starters, you’re going to have a limited inventory capacity, meaning that you’re going to need to be smart about the things you pick up while you’re out in the field.
That’s especially true for Survival Capture mode, where it’s always possible to have more than one Kerotan Frog in your inventory. But choosing to do so means that you have one slot less for a valuable item or weapon that you might very well need to stay ahead of the game. It also means that you run the risk of handing over your advantage to your opponent if things go badly for you.
On the other hand, you could very well pass on the extra Frog to a teammate, securing a better chance for their survival into the next phase while depriving your opponent of the same advantage. The need for strategy and tactics extends beyond just your gear and skills to the actual mission at hand, and is probably going to create the scope for some very interesting matches over the next few months.
Intrude could be equally nail-biting when you factor in a limited inventory capacity. Considering the mode’s emphasis on controlling space via the intelligent use of Naked Sense, the choice between food, weapons, and other valuable items once again adds a layer of nuance to the gameplay loop on offer. Do you prioritize your ability to stay hidden and ahead of your enemies, or choose to have the tools you need to let them come to you unaware of exactly what you’re capable of?
There’s also the potential to unlock more options for your AT-CAMO suit as you keep playing, allowing you to take on the guise of man-made objects in arenas and bewilder your opponents just when they think they’ve got the upper hand. Those options join a bunch of cosmetic unlockables that can keep you pushing past your bedtime to play just another couple of matches so you have enough to unlock them.
Our personal picks would be “disguises”, which are equippable skins of various popular characters from the main game. Looking like either Eva or perhaps young Ocelot, both of which we spotted during the showcase, can be quite a nice touch, allowing you to bring a bit of personal flavor to the action if you so choose. They join new radio presets, emotes, and other unlockables as incentives for you to keep playing FOX Hunt, although the gameplay loop is reason enough to do so in our book.
All in all, FOX Hunt looks like it’s everything we want it to be from a new Metal Gear multiplayer experience. If you’re as excited as we are to dive in, you’re probably going to see us on the field of battle. Or maybe you won’t!
