Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a canonical installment in the Metal Gear series. It was developed by Kojima Productions using their self-programmed Fox Engine and published by Konami. As with previous Metal Gear Solid titles, Hideo Kojima designed, wrote, directed, and produced the game. This was the final Metal Gear game Kojima worked on prior to his departure from Konami in October 2015. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows on September 1, 2015. It was released in Japan the following day. Set in 1984, nine years after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain serves as a prequel to Metal Gear, which is set in 1995. The game's subtitle refers to a medical condition commonly associated with amputees, when an individual experiences sensations, specifically pain, in limbs or organs that are no longer physically part of their body. The Phantom Pain is the first Metal Gear game to fully use an open world gameplay structure.