Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is well-known for crafting games that speculate on what our collective future might entail. However, recent events have left the game director taking a deeper look at his own future, and what might become of Kojima Productions when dies.
In an interview with Edge Magazine (later reported on by VGC), Kojima said that falling "seriously ill" during the pandemic inspired him to re-evaluate his career ambitions and how much time he has left as a creator. After recovering, the Death Stranding 2 director made the decision to give a "USB stick with all my ideas on it" to his personal assistant as a way to ensure the studio has new ideas to toy around with after he is gone. Kojima likened the storage device to a "will" of sorts.
"Perhaps they could continue to make things after I’m gone at Kojima Productions… This is a fear for me: what happens to Kojima Productions after I’m gone? I don’t want them to just manage our existing IP," Kojima said.
The game director--who turns 62 this August--said that the pandemic was ultimately more of a turning point for him than entering his 60s. After falling ill and undergoing an eye operation, he was left unable to "create anything." At the same time, he witnessed "lost of people around me passing away."
"Until then, I didn’t think I was old, you know? I just didn’t feel my age, and I assumed I would be able to create for as long as I live," Kojima said. "But then I became sick, and I couldn’t create anything. And I saw lots of people around me passing away at that time. I was confronted with death. Of course, I recovered, but now I was thinking, 'Wait, how many years do I have left to make game or a film?' Perhaps I have 10 years?"
Kojima added, however, that he has since put his ambitions to direct a film aside. He credits directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn--both of whom appear in the Death Stranding series--for this decision, as both encouraged him to stick to video games.
Kojima Productions' next game, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, is now only a month away. The second-ever "Strand game" is scheduled to release exclusively for PlayStation 5 on June 26, though players who order the Collector's and Digital Deluxe Editions of the games will gain access starting on June 24. In GameSpot's preview of the game, Dan Ryckert wrote that he can "confidentially say it's excellent."
"Like the first game, it can be meditative in the quiet moments as you traverse the environment. But when the game wants to get loud, it does not hold back. One chapter--titled 'Conflagration'--is one of the most visually stunning sequences I’ve ever seen in a game," Ryckert wrote. "Even running on a base PS5, it’s a spectacle that culminates in a boss encounter that rivals the best of Metal Gear Solid. Mechanically, it’s essentially a shootout with a boss and multiple soldiers, but tonally and visually, it’s Kojima firing on all cylinders and it’s truly jaw-dropping."
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In an interview with Edge Magazine (later reported on by VGC), Kojima said that falling "seriously ill" during the pandemic inspired him to re-evaluate his career ambitions and how much time he has left as a creator. After recovering, the Death Stranding 2 director made the decision to give a "USB stick with all my ideas on it" to his personal assistant as a way to ensure the studio has new ideas to toy around with after he is gone. Kojima likened the storage device to a "will" of sorts.
"Perhaps they could continue to make things after I’m gone at Kojima Productions… This is a fear for me: what happens to Kojima Productions after I’m gone? I don’t want them to just manage our existing IP," Kojima said.
The game director--who turns 62 this August--said that the pandemic was ultimately more of a turning point for him than entering his 60s. After falling ill and undergoing an eye operation, he was left unable to "create anything." At the same time, he witnessed "lost of people around me passing away."
"Until then, I didn’t think I was old, you know? I just didn’t feel my age, and I assumed I would be able to create for as long as I live," Kojima said. "But then I became sick, and I couldn’t create anything. And I saw lots of people around me passing away at that time. I was confronted with death. Of course, I recovered, but now I was thinking, 'Wait, how many years do I have left to make game or a film?' Perhaps I have 10 years?"
Kojima added, however, that he has since put his ambitions to direct a film aside. He credits directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn--both of whom appear in the Death Stranding series--for this decision, as both encouraged him to stick to video games.
Kojima Productions' next game, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, is now only a month away. The second-ever "Strand game" is scheduled to release exclusively for PlayStation 5 on June 26, though players who order the Collector's and Digital Deluxe Editions of the games will gain access starting on June 24. In GameSpot's preview of the game, Dan Ryckert wrote that he can "confidentially say it's excellent."
"Like the first game, it can be meditative in the quiet moments as you traverse the environment. But when the game wants to get loud, it does not hold back. One chapter--titled 'Conflagration'--is one of the most visually stunning sequences I’ve ever seen in a game," Ryckert wrote. "Even running on a base PS5, it’s a spectacle that culminates in a boss encounter that rivals the best of Metal Gear Solid. Mechanically, it’s essentially a shootout with a boss and multiple soldiers, but tonally and visually, it’s Kojima firing on all cylinders and it’s truly jaw-dropping."
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