Hideo Kojima and his studio Kojima Productions seem to already be pre-planning their next video game project. The studio will be launching its first title, Death Stranding, on November 8 exclusively for PS4. Kojima announced that he would be reforming Kojima Productions as an independent studio alongside Sony Interactive Entertainment in December of 2015. It’s worth mentioning that Death Stranding is being published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and the game is using Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerrilla Games’ Decima Engine. Kojima Productions is, however, not a Sony first-party studio.
Death Stranding was revealed at Sony’s E3 2016 press conference. The game will feature Norman Reedus in the lead role as Sam Lake, while Guillermo del Toro will be making an appearance as an in-game character model who’s voiced by another actor. Both Reedus and del Toro were working with Kojima on Konami’s Silent Hills, but the project was canceled and Kojima departed. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of Death Stranding, despite the game being shrouded in mystery even before its release. Not much is known about the game’s narrative other than that it’ll have Reedus’ character Sam traveling across America to reconnect isolated populations.
Twinfinite picked up a tweet from Kojima, indicating that the developer is hard at work on Tokyo Game Show presentations, as well as polishing Death Stranding before release. The developer also happened to add one brief comment about the next project from Kojima Productions. At the end of the tweet, there’s a picture of a crab and a comment from Kojima saying “I want to become a crab.” Kojima might want to become a crab, or perhaps this is some obscure reference to the nature of the studio’s next game. Knowing Kojima it could be either-or.
Many fans have been wondering what Kojima Productions will do next once Death Stranding launches. Some have speculated that the studio will become a part of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s first-party studios. Given the fact that Sony just acquired Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games, it’s plausible speculation. PS4 was the leader of this console generation through some great early marketing tactics, as well as an exclusive lineup that couldn’t be beaten. In May, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan said that they’d be purchasing studios ahead of PS5’s launch and so far they’ve only announced one.
Rumors have been circulating that Death Stranding won’t be a PS4 exclusive forever. In that regard, Kojima Productions may move on and release all of their future projects to multiple platforms. This rumor could also mean that Sony might just be more willing to bring their exclusives to rival platforms, something Microsoft has been doing with PC and the Nintendo Switch. Only time will tell what’s going to happen, but fans can already start looking forward to what’s next for Hideo Kojima and his team.
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Source: Hideo Kojima, Twinfinite
