Hideo Kojima Says He’s Going Through Most Demanding Period Development

We hate hearing about development studios going through crunch time. It’s a term often avoided within the industry, and several studios have been working to ensure they avoid it. However, Hideo Kojima posted on X that they are going through a crunch, which is the most demanding period of game development.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, crunching in the game industry involves working longer hours or through the weekends to complete a game project on time. This is typically a big push to ensure the game meets the targeted launch date. We know that a few projects are in the works at Kojima Productions, but the next to hit the marketplace will be Death Stranding 2: One The Beach.

That said, this game is not specifically mentioned in the post on X. Instead, Hideo noted that he was physically and mentally tired. His current work includes mixing Japanese voice recordings, writing comments, explanations, essays, interviews, discussions, and, of course, non-game-related work. So, all this looks to be taking a toll on the iconic game developer, but he’s pushing through.

As mentioned, Hideo Kojima has a few projects in the works, but two of the games recently experienced delays that were out of Kojima Productions’ control. If you don’t recall, earlier this month, Kojima noted that the recent SAG-AFTRA strikes impacted development for both OD and Physint.

We know that OD scanning and filming were stopped over the strike while casting was suspended for Physint. So we know what the studio will undergo once the strikes are over with those two projects. In the meantime, you can view a trailer for the upcoming Death Stranding 2: On The Beach below. While we don’t have a specific release date for this title yet, we know that it will be released at some point this year for the PlayStation 5.