June 18, 2025, 11:06 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Hideo Kojima’s games are known for not following the gaming mainstream. Even with “Death Stranding” in 2019, perseverance was required to fully unlock the potential of the unusual title. With the sequel, Kojima ensures that players don’t get too comfortable.
Nothing stands in the way of the planned release of “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” for PlayStation 5 on May 26. However, there seemed to be an issue with the game’s direction beforehand: It was too easy.
Kojima Does His Own Thing
In an interview with “Rolling Stone,” French singer-songwriter Yoann Lemoine, better known as Woodkid, discusses his collaboration with video game designer Hideo Kojima. Beyond composing the soundtrack for “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach,” Lemoine also provides insight into Kojima’s unique approach to game design. While development was still in full swing, Kojima reportedly told Lemoine: “We have a problem. I want to be completely honest: We tested the game with players, and the results are too good. They like it too much. That means something is wrong; we need to change something.”
This anecdote offers a deep insight into Kojima’s vision for video games. While his games are undoubtedly “mainstream” (“Death Stranding” alone had over 20 million players)–they are not conventional. The designer is not content with merely meeting publishers’ demands or serving players “pre-digested” content. Lemoine: “He doesn’t care at all. He really doesn’t care. He makes no compromises; he does what he wants.”
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“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” Likely to Challenge Players Again
The feedback from game testers prompted Kojima to make significant changes to the script and key scenes. He wanted to reintroduce elements that would provoke stronger and more polarizing reactions from players. According to Lemoine, this aligns with his philosophy that true appreciation for a work arises when it challenges and surprises the audience. He quotes Kojima: “I want people to learn to like things they didn’t like at first contact, because that’s when you really start to love something.”
Despite his quirks, Kojima does not seem to boss around his development teams. Lemoine dispels the widespread notion that Kojima is selfish. The opposite is true: What makes him so successful as a game designer is his openness to changing his own opinion for other ideas.