Summary
- Hideo Kojima planned Death Stranding 2 to release in 2023.
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused major delays in actor scanning and casting.
- The sequel evolved from a scrapped DLC idea into a full game.
Death Stranding 2 Faced Pandemic Delays, Kojima Confirms
Death Stranding 2 was supposed to arrive much earlier than expected.
In a recent GQ interview, Hideo Kojima shared that the game’s development was significantly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kojima said that if it weren’t for the restrictions, the game would’ve launched in 2023. He had originally planned to shoot the opening scene, featuring Léa Seydoux’s character Fragile, in spring 2020—but travel bans and safety measures made that impossible.
Because actors couldn’t be scanned or cast during that time, production halted for a long period. Kojima admitted that this delay pushed back the entire timeline, despite the team starting work on the sequel right after the first game launched.
From DLC Concept to Full Sequel
Interestingly, Kojima also revealed that Death Stranding 2 wasn’t originally meant to be a full game. It started out as DLC or a smaller follow-up titled “Death Stranding 1.5.”
It would have included scenes with Fragile and Sam and expanded the lore around the Chiral clouds and space travel. But with time to reflect during the pandemic, Kojima reworked those ideas into a much bigger project.
Some of the scenes planned for the cancelled DLC now make up the opening of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Kojima also mentioned that while he has ideas for a third game in the series, he may not be the one to make it—he’s planning to focus more on film direction going forward.
Well, even with Death Stranding 2 nearing release, Kojima is already moving on. He’s working on a horror game called “OD” with Jordan Peele, and also developing a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid titled “Physint.” But Kojima admits that finishing Death Stranding 2 will be emotional: “I might cry after I finish,” he said.
