Games and entertainment industry darling Hideo Kojima, the very same who headed development of Death Stranding 2, which made it onto our top 10 games of 2025 list, put out a post today on X updating the public on what the future looks like for his studio. And true to the spirit of the imminent new year (or maybe not depending on when and where you are reading this), the post features artwork of Kojima Productions’ mascot striding confidently forward from a horse, which is 2026’s Chinese Zodiac animal symbolizing energy and confidence. And hopefully that means what Kojima’s promising here comes to fruition in a big way:

Happy New Year.
In 2026, we will move forward with the “Second Phase” that leads into KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS’ “Third Phase.”
Unlike last year, like I was traveling all over the world, this year will be about staying grounded and laying solid foundations. We will continue development… pic.twitter.com/yje0zAY1md

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 31, 2025

As stated in the post, Kojima Productions is changing “phases,” which isn’t just something he came up with for this post. On the official studio website, there are three main phases all themed around space travel symbolizing its initialization and plans for the future. Kojima Productions was founded as an independent endeavor back in 2015 after his falling out with Konami, and so far only phase 1 of the 20 year roadmap has been fully accomplished. This involved the launch of Death Stranding and subsequent media projects, and now this phase is almost finished thanks to the sequel, the studio is moving on to mostly focus on their other original IP that don’t involve the Death Stranding universe. 

What follows is a summary of the projects listed in Kojima’s post. The development of the first title of these new IP, OD, thankfully seems to be unfettered by the tragic passing of one of its major contributing actors, Udo Kier. The upcoming horror game has had two gripping and cryptic teaser trailers released so far, but they did not disclose a lot of information on what it will entail other than show off its hyper-realistic graphics that utilize Unreal and Meta Human. The gameplay, setting, and other details for OD remain to be seen, however. The second IP mentioned, Physint, is an action-espionage title that was announced at Sony’s State of Play event in 2024 that looks to be a return to form to Kojima’s most recognized game series, Metal Gear, though likewise there’s not much that’s notable known about it otherwise. Lastly, Kojima mentions the continued production of the Death Stranding live action film that was confirmed to come to theaters with the help of indie producer A24 and the director behind Pig, and A Quiet Place: Day One in 2022 as well as an animated series set in the game’s world that will come out on Disney+ in 2027. Both the movie and the show will follow separate stories from the two games, but will likely be faithful adaptations nonetheless.