Yes, you read that right: all the quirky references and hidden Easter eggs in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach were intentionally placed by none other than the mastermind himself, Hideo Kojima.
In a recent interview with GameSpark, Kojima admitted that he pushed for the inclusion of these subtle secrets, even though his team pretended not to know what he was talking about.
Despite begging his staff to add little jokes and Easter eggs, Kojima shared that they would often play coy, acting like they didn’t understand what he meant. ‘All of that stuff was added by me,’ Kojima revealed, as translated by Automaton. ‘Even if I said to the staff, ‘Please put them in!’ they would just say, ‘Huh?’ and pretend not to know.’
One example Kojima pointed out was a specific location in the game: a beautiful sky you can see at night while relaxing in a hot spring. Kojima encouraged players to zoom in on the sky, promising that they’d discover various secrets. But beware, not all of them are universally loved. Kojima himself admitted that some of these hidden gems might ‘cringe’ certain players out.
Interestingly, Kojima also shared that the direction of the game changed halfway through development after playtest results were ‘too good.’ He stated that he didn’t want the game to be too ‘mainstream,’ which is why the development took a turn. Critics have had mostly positive reactions, with IGN awarding Death Stranding 2 a solid 9/10, praising it as a ‘triumphant sequel.’
Aside from the game, Kojima is also working on several other exciting projects. He’s collaborating with A24 on a live-action Death Stranding film and is currently developing a Death Stranding anime. There’s also Physint, an action espionage game exclusive to PlayStation, which Kojima claims is ‘a game I have always wanted to make.’ Meanwhile, his upcoming Xbox-published title OD promises to be something truly unique, and Kojima himself is highly enthusiastic about it.