Kojima Productions now owns the Death Stranding franchise.
Last week, we reported that Death Stranding Director’s Cut was premiering on Xbox. The game was published by 505 Games, who also published the game on PC.
Kojima Productions since shared a press release revealing that they had taken ownership of the franchise from Sony Interactive Entertainment. As reported by IGN, Hideo Kojima shared this statement:
“It is my pleasure to finally announce that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be delivered to Xbox players. I would like to thank all the fans who have stayed connected with us as well as everyone in the Xbox community who have been patiently waiting.
Kojima Productions (Death Stranding) will continue to connect more and more players around the world, so please stay tuned.”
Death Stranding is an unusual project in the history of the game industry. Hideo Kojima separated from Konami under acrimonious circumstances in July 2015, and rebuilt his studio as an independent company that December. Hideo Kojima also announced that KojiPro partnered with PlayStation to make a new game for them.
Of course, that game was Death Stranding, and it emerged as a major PlayStation exclusive when it released on the PlayStation 4 in 2019. It was clear during development that Sony had been a close partner in the game’s production, as they partnered with Guerrilla Games, and used Guerrilla’s proprietary game engine, Decima.
Knowing all this, it was somewhat strange when Kojima Productions announced ports for PC via Steam, as well as Apple platforms macOS, iOS, and iPadOS in 2024. That port was not published by Sony, but 505 Games. And of course, just recently, it released on Xbox Series X|S, including Game Pass, as well as Amazon Luna.
This arrangement raised questions on what deal Sony made with KojiPro, and how much of that deal changed. We will posit that it’s entirely possible that KojiPro and Sony agreed that the IP rights would go to KojiPro from the start.
The speculation arises from third parties like Sega and Square Enix moving to make their games from being PlayStation exclusives, to publishing on Steam and even Xbox. Did Kojima Productions feel that market conditions had changed to the degree that they had to also step away from an exclusivity deal?
KojiPro’s statement did not directly address this mystery, but we have reason to believe this was the plan all along. Sony did not acquire Kojima Productions and they did not hire Hideo Kojima as a Sony employee. Subsequently, KojiPro has an Xbox exclusive title in development, O.D.
It may be the case that Kojima’s experience with Konami taught him to stay independent and work with publishers in a particular way moving forward. It may be that he will also make O.D. a multiplatform game in time. Subsequently, KojiPro is unlikely to make a deal with Nintendo to make a game, but they may plan a future title to release on multiple platforms, including Nintendo’s.
Death Stranding broke with expectations that Kojima would make another AAA with broad appeal, and that may also reflect his new direction as an independent video game developer. Xbox owners who were curious but unwilling to spend on the game may now give the game a try through their Game Pass subscription.
