Kojima Productions’ three-year development of Death Stranding is nothing short of impressive. The studio began production in 2016 and is already releasing a finished product. Clearly, some of this was made easier with the help of Guerrilla Games, whose Decima Engine powers Death Stranding. In addition, it’s known Kojima Productions had extra assistance from the Horizon Zero Dawn team. The public didn’t quite know to what extent, however. According to Death Stranding’s credits, over 70 staff members from Guerrilla Games took part in developing Kojima’s latest.
Video Game Chronicle took note of the sheer number of Guerrilla developers cited in Death Stranding’s credits. Apparently, of those 70 Guerrilla staffers, 40 served as engineers for the Kojima project. This includes a handful of key Horizon Zero Dawn programmers. The Killzone studio also aided Kojima Productions in departments such as animation, art, audio, cinematic, and visual effects. Interestingly, Horizon’s Senior Quest Designer, James Kneuper, received a “quest design” credit for Death Stranding, according to VGC.
It’s all incredibly interesting to say the least. Moreover, it puts a lot of curiosities into perspective. For instance, the way with which Guerrilla also celebrated Death Stranding’s going gold makes more sense now. Of course, the same can be said with regards to how quickly Kojima Productions finished the project.
The embargo for Death Stranding reviews and impressions recently lifted, allowing journalists and influencers to share their thoughts on the experience. Our review of the title applauds it as a “unique experience.”
Death Stranding’s will hit the PlayStation 4 next week on November 8th. The title is slated to launch for PC on an unspecified date during summer 2020.
[Source: Video Game Chronicle]
