It’s almost impossible to go a week at this point without some official news and if not that, then some leaks about Hideo Kojima, and what he’s up to. While much of it comes and goes without much fuss, there are certain sources who, when they speak, you sit up and pay attention to – ResetEra user DuskGolem is one of those very people.
DuskGolem, who we tend to associate with the insights and insider knowledge of horror games, and has been especially active when it comes to news surrounding Silent Hill has suddenly surfaced when it comes to Kojima’s current goings on, and proceeds to share what they know about his next work – which is supposed Death Stranding 2 under a codename of ‘Ocean’.
Speaking on ResetEra DuskGolem said,
Death Stranding 2 is in development (and for some insiders to know I’m not bullshitting about this in the future, its internal codename is Ocean), but Kojima has had a long standing deal with Sony on this, which is being analyzed if Sony and Kojima Productions should renew their contracts after DS2 or not at present, but was never in question before this due to a multi-game contract Sony and Kojima Productions have.
But Death Stranding 2 itself was always plotted to be with Sony. I’m not going to say a single actual thing about the game itself, not now or in the future, so don’t ask even if people figure out later I’m 100% telling the truth about the codename and contract stuff. But any murmurs about a DS2 with anyone other than Sony is bullshit.
The deal with Xbox was never meant to be DS2, this rumor is just false, Sony and Kojima Productions have a multi-game contract that expires after DS2 and at present is being decided by both parties whether to continue their relationship or end it after DS2, and that is the truth.
DuskGolem cites on multiple occasions the potential of Death Stranding 2 being worked on with someone other than Sony, this is in reference to news that emerged earlier today that suggested that Kojima was at one stage intending to work with Google to develop a Death Stranding follow-up on Stadia before Google supposedly passed on it. The report at 9to5Google read,
Our source says it was that single-player nature of the game that led Google to cancel Stadia’s collaboration with Kojima, with the company believing there was no longer a market for solo experiences. Reportedly, the game had gotten initial approval from Google and had begun the early stages of development. However, shortly after the first mockups were shown in mid 2020, Google scrapped the project entirely.
For now, all we have confirmed is that Kojima Productions is working with Xbox on an exclusive, which was announced at Xbox + Bethesda’s Summer Games Showcase in June, anything else relating to further Death Stranding, or other titles is currently a rumour at best.
