It appears that Hideo Kojima’s highly anticipated next game, Death Stranding, is still a little ways away. In a recent interview with J-Wave, Kojima discussed how development is progressing on the game. Most notably, Kojima talked about how the game has fallen behind the studio’s internal schedule.
Many studios lag behind their planned release date. Death Stranding is slightly behind our initial plan, but not too far behind.
However, Kojima did mentioned that he has a controller in his hands everyday. He stated that the studio have had to make some compromises due to having deadlines, but that he won’t release a game “when I fall below my passing line.” Elsewhere in the interview, Kojima discussed how it is is difficult to express the ideas of a new game because the ideas are “only visible inside” himself. He also went on to state that Death Stranding will be an open world game.
Death Stranding will be Kojima’s first game since his acrimonious split with Konami after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in 2015. Fans have eagerly awaited Kojima’s next project since he partnered with Sony and revealed Death Stranding at E3 2016. The game is set to feature massive cast of stars including Norman Reedus, Guillermo del Toro, Mads Mikkelsen, and others. Recently, Reedus discussed what it’s like working with Kojima for the game. Elsewhere, Kojima has shown the first few hours of the game to Guerilla Games, whose Decima engine powers Death Stranding, and to director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who is set to direct the film based on Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series.
Recently, Sony has reportedly shifted the focus of its first party studios to development for the PlayStation 5, and it is unknown how this move impacts Death Stranding since it is being funded and published by Sony. With Sony announcing that they are skipping E3 this year, it’s currently unknown when fans will get another look at the game. Death Stranding is currently set for a release on PlayStation 4 at some point in the future.