Given that Ground Zeroes serves as a prologue for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, it's unsurprising that the two games will connect with one another. First up, early physical and digital copies of Ground Zeroes will include exclusive DLC for use within The Phantom Pain. The DLC will give players "additional resources" for a Mother Base area that's introduced in Ground Zeroes and plays a "central role" in The Phantom Pain. According to Konami, players will get "an edge" with the add-on.

In addition, all players of Ground Zeroes will be able to unlock exclusive content to carry-over into The Phantom Pain. Specifically, prisoners of war and VIPs rescued in the prologue will be added to the Mother Base in The Phantom Pain, giving players an early in-game advantage. All unlocked character skins will also carry over from the prologue to the main game.

Ground Zeroes will be available on PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, and Xbox One on March 18. All versions will be $30, except for the downloadable current-gen versions, which will be $10 cheaper.