When Metal Gear Solid V was released last year, it was without the voice of David Hayter. Instead it was Kiefer Sutherland who provided the voice of the main character, and Hayter has now provided his side of the story of why this happened in an interview with GameInformer.
Hayter says that he had run into a game producer and asked if they should set up a deal for the game. He was then informed that he would not be needed. He then approached Kris Zimmerman, casting and voice director, and she said that his work wasn't wanted for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and that they were looking for an actor to replace him.
Hayter explains that this isn't the first time Kojima had tried to get rid of him, because he had to re-audition before being cast as both Naked Snake and Old Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3. Kojima apparently wanted Kurt Russel instead, but the famous actor wasn't interested.
It was annoying to me, because I thought that I had given a lot to the series and really helped promote it. At the same time, I genuinely feel that the run I had as Snake was remarkable. If you get that once in your career, that’s amazing. I don’t have any ill will toward Kiefer Sutherland or anything like that. The whole thing could have been handled better and a little more respectfully, but I’m not going to cry about it.