“Death Stranding 2” Is Testing Too Well?

Gaming’s most celebrated auteur Hideo Kojima has a problem – it seems too many people really like his upcoming game “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach”.

The first “Death Stranding” released in 2019 to a very polarised reception – some adored it and called it a masterpiece, others despised it and dismissed it as a ‘postman simulator’. It was quintessentially Kojima though through and through.

With the sequel, the company opted to deliver something more action-oriented and broadly appealing. Going by the rave reviews recently from game reviewers who got to spend dozens of hours with it recently, it appears they have succeeded with plenty drawing comparisons to Kojima’s work on the “Metal Gear” franchise.

In fact, Kojima tells Edge Magazine (via VGC) that the new game is scoring much higher with test audiences – numbers Sony is very pleased with, but which he himself is a little let down by as he hoped it would be more controversial:

“I’m not interested in making something that appeals to everyone. In fact, I did a lot of monitoring tests for the original Death Stranding. I’d find that four out of ten people would love the game, but six would say it was a terrible game. For me, I think that’s a good balance.

With the playtests for Death Standing 2: On the Beach, everyone seems to be positive. Sony is pleased, of course, but I do wish I was a bit more controversial. Blockbuster films need an 80% approval rating – I don’t want to make games like that. I’m not interested in appealing to the mass market, or selling millions of copies… That’s not what I’m aiming for.

Of course, I can’t afford to make a failure, either. I must take care of my studio, my staff, and our production budget. But in essence, I don’t want to simply recreate something that’s already in the world. I want to make something new.”

“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” will release exclusively on the PlayStation 5 on June 26th.

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