After launching Death Stranding back in November 2019, Kojima Productions has been quietly at work on whatever is coming next from the studio. We might see Kojima Productions’ next game “quite soon,” according to Studio Art Director Yoji Shinkawa.
In an interview with AI Hub, Shinkawa was asked if he could talk about what he working on next with Kojima Productions. After some hesitancy and laughing, Shinkawa replied, “Well yeah, I am doing something, for sure, and I could tell you, probably, that we can announce it quite soon.” His response was via a translator so it doesn’t appear to have been a slip up on Shinkawa’s part. What exactly Shinkawa means be “quite soon” is up for interpretation, but it seems Kojima Productions is gearing up to show off what’s next from the studio.
Shinkawa has worked closely with Kojima for decades, partnering with him for every project as far back as 1994’s Policenauts. Shinkawa would be very familiar with the operations at Kojima Productions and whether or not the studio was getting read to announce its next game, which lends a lot of weight to his statement.
Little is known about Kojima Productions’ next game. The studio moved to remote work in March 2020 after an employees coronavirus diagnosis. They also were hiring for additional best-in-class talent as of late last year, and Norman Reedus was allegedly in talks to work with Kojima on another project.
Hideo Kojima himself has also teased concepts for the studio’s next game on multiple occasions. He’s also revealed other details, such as a big project that apparently fell apart, that the studio doesn’t have the rights to Metal Gear or Silent Hill, and that he wants to work on games so scary that players will “crap their pants.”
Some speculation points to a sequel to Death Stranding, which would track with the developers tendency to write sweeping epic stories that span multiple games over many, many years. What do you think Kojima Productions next game is going to be? Have Norman Reedus carry your comment across the wastelands to the comments below.
