Skip to main content

Hideo Kojima stokes new Death Stranding speculation with latest tweets

Famed video game designer Hideo Kojima has something up his sleeve and it may have something to do with the Death Stranding universe.

In a series of tweets, Kojima said he and Death Stranding art director Yoji Shinkawa are working on a “new title.” His tweets all have accompanying images, including one that depicts the “Bridge Baby” prominently featured in Death Stranding. Two photos published on Monday show Kojima and Shinkawa working on concept art with a Death Stranding poster on the wall behind them. Kojima doesn’t reference Death Stranding in any of the tweets, but the images may be saying something.

Kojima is best known for creating the Metal Gear Solid franchise but launched Death Stranding on the PlayStation 4 last year (after a delay in April, the game will be available to PC players on July 14). It’s unclear what Kojima and Shinkawa are working on, but many Twitter users suspect it’s another entry in the Death Stranding universe. Some even blew up one of the images Kojima posted and discovered it referenced “Bridges,” an important company from the game.

Kojima, who has his own development house called Kojima Productions, said in an interview with Japanese gaming publication Famitsu earlier this year that he was working on several game concepts but didn’t say whether any of those titles would relate to Death Stranding. While most of the game concepts are smaller in scope than Death Stranding and may only be released digitally, one of them is a “big” game, Kojima said.

Death Stranding is set in a post-apocalyptic America that weaves players through a tale of politics, big business, and a fractured society. It proved divisive, with some players calling it an achievement in gameplay and others saying it was repetitive.

In a review last year, Digital Trends’ Giovanni Colantonio gave the game three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying it was a “technical marvel” but had a “slow story.”

Either way, the game and Kojima have attracted a loyal audience that’s eager to see what he has planned. At least for now, he doesn’t seem ready to reveal it.

Editors' Recommendations

Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger is a freelance technology, video game, and entertainment journalist. He has been writing about the world of…
One of Game Pass’ best titles leaves PC on August 15 and you don’t want to miss it
Death Stranding

While Xbox Game Pass frequently adds new games to its library, some titles do leave the service every fifteen days. Sometimes, those games are fantastic and PC Game Pass will lose a heavy hitter on August 15: Death Stranding. If you aren't familiar with this game, it, ironically, is a PlayStation console exclusive that's part of Microsoft's subscription service only on PC. Death Stranding first released on PS4 in November 2019 and tells a story about a man who is trying to reconnect a post-apocalyptic while dealing with lots of supernatural threats along the way.

It didn't come to PC until July 2020, before that was followed by Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PC and PS5 in the following years. The version of the game that's available through Xbox Game Pass is based on the July 2020 PC release, although it only came to PC Game Pass in August 2022. After a year on Microsoft's subscription service, the deal is up, and it's going to leave on August 15. Death Stranding is a game with a very compelling and socially relevant story and gameplay not quite like anything out there, so Game Pass subscribers who haven't tried this game yet need to before it leaves the service soon. 
It's all connected
Death Stranding follows the journey of Sam Porter Bridges, the adopted son of the President of the United Cities of America, as he attempts to reconnect what's left of America with a Chiral Network and save his sister. Of course, this game has Kojima's signature eccentricity, as Sam also carries around and starts forming a deeper connection with a baby in a pod (called a BB) that helps him avoid deadly creatures called BTs and gives him visions of a mysterious figure played by Mads Mikkelsen. On that note, Death Stranding has a stacked Hollywood cast as it stars people like Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Margaret Qualley and features characters modeled after Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and more. 
I'm not a huge fan of this game's melodramatic dialogue exchanges and arduous pacing that leaves a lot of the most interesting reveals for the end. Still, it undeniably has some prescient themes about how important connection is, something that became even more apparent and relevant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Few video game writers can craft narratives that are as engaging and memorable as the ones in Hideo Kojima's games. Though what I like most about Death Stranding is its gameplay, which isn't quite like anything that came out before or since. 
For the most part, Death Stranding is a game about delivering packages. It initially seemed like a shocking change in style for the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series, but the connections become a bit clearer to me as I had to stealthily avoid BTs and saw the Metal Gear Solid V-level of freedom the game gives players in making deliveries. To maximize profits from deliveries, I have to balance all of the packages in Sam's possession, keeping a close eye on the terrain, and finding the best ways to get Sam to his destination without damaging much of the goods he's carrying.

Read more
Macs are getting a ‘Game Mode’ feature and Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
Sam Bridges gives a peace sign in Death Stranding: Director's Cut.

Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac, Hideo Kojima announced today during WWDC 23. The news came amid a brief gaming section during Apple's annual showcase, which also introduced a new Game Mode for Macs.

During WWDC's gaming block, Apple highlighted how the likes of No Man's Sky and Stray have made their way to Mac before announcing a dedicated Game Mode for Mac that prioritizes the CPU and GPU and minimizes latency on Xbox and PlayStation controllers. Apple also announced the Game Porting Toolkit for Metal, which should make it easier for game developers to bring their games to Mac.
After all that, Apple introduced Kojima, who said he's been an Apple fan since he bought a Mac in 1994 and confirmed that Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac. This enhanced version of Kojima's 2019 hit was previously released for PS5 and Windows, with new missions, features like a firing range and racing, and more.
The Mac version of the game will benefit from utilizing technology like Metal 3 and MetalFX Upscaling, although it doesn't seem like Apple fans should expect anything in the way of new content. That will likely be saved for the game's upcoming sequel, Death Stranding 2.
At the end of his segment, Kojima also stated that "we are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms." This potentially hints at the fact that games like Death Stranding 2 and his Xbox-published title could eventually make their way to Apple's devices.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut will launch for Mac on an unspecified date later this year, with preorders opening soon. 

Read more
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s sequel should go full Death Stranding
Sam Porter walks across a landscape in Death Stranding: Director's Cut.

During my The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom playthrough, I couldn’t stop thinking about Death Stranding.

Hideo Kojima’s one-of-a-kind “strand game” sprung to mind every time I crafted an ingenious device that would let me traverse Hyrule more easily. I felt like Sam Porter Bridges laying down ladders and ziplines to cut through the rough landscapes of postapocalyptic America. I kept joking to myself that Tears of the Kingdom is a strand game. The more I see players sharing their creations, though, the more serious I’m becoming about that claim.

Read more