The award-winning gameDeath Strandingproduced by Kojima Productions has built a community of dedicated fans, in keeping with the game’s themes of building bridges and connections. To honor the new Director’s Cut edition ofDeath Stranding, 505 Games hosted a Q&A session for the gaming community with both Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa on hand to answer questions.
Hideo Kojima is known for developing theMetal Gearseries as creative director, working with the concept and character artist Yoji Shinkawa to create a unique brand of games since 1987. With 35 years of experience, the brains behind Kojima Productions were more than happy to get involved answering the burning questions surrounding their projects.
RELATED:Japanese Government Grants Hideo Kojima Award for Fine Arts
Antonela Pounder hosted the Q&A event, discussing the key factors to building a strong working relationship and how thethemes ofDeath Strandingcan influence communities. The probing questions offer unique insight into the behind-the-scenes world of Kojima Productions; Hideo Kojima’s creative “auteur license” is both enlightening and humble, allowing the dev team to pitch many ideas for implementation inDeath Strandingas well as previous games. “Positive enforcement and helping others becomes a design choice” for the game, with such a progressive element hopefully moving players to do the same in real life.
There is also mention of differences between the originalDeath Strandingrelease and the Director’s Cut edition, and Antonela noted through her own playthrough the “wholesome” nature of having a community spirit thanks to the effort of random players uniting to build something together. The goal of rebuilding America is not intended to be a solo venture, putting emphasis on howDeath Strandingplayers need to work together. Kojima stating that he wanted gamers to “step out of their room after playing [Death Stranding] and see the roads and bridges around them.”
Other less philosophical questions are asked that focus on the world building, such as the reasoning why planes don’t exist in theDeath Strandinguniverse. Other topics likeDeath StrandingandMetal Gear’s similaritiesare mentioned, querying the influence of the latter’s infamously long cutscene runtime influencing Sam Bridges' story inDeath Stranding. Even talk of aDeath Strandingsequel was mentioned, especially from Kojima’s own viewpoint on characters like Heartman with such a strong backstory “deserving its own spin-off series.”
The full interview gives an insight into Hideo Kojima’s goals and community interactions, eager to inspire and motivate players with a game that serves as more than just an entertainment product.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cutis available on PC and PS5.
MORE:Death Stranding Director’s Cut and Asexuality - A Redemption Story
