Death Stranding 2 Was Reportedly In The Works With Kojima And Stadia
Just when you thought the collapse of Google Stadia couldn't get any more shocking, the latest wild rumours claim the sudden death of the cloud gaming service comes nearly two years after another major casualty. Could it be true, did Stadia really kill off Death Stranding 2 before killing itself?
While Hideo Kojima was once the golden boy of Konami, he stepped away to form Kojima Productions - which famously led to Silent Hills silents shuffling to the grave. The arrival of Death Stranding as a PlayStation exclusive in 2019 was polarising, but since the release of the Director's Cut, players have been dying to know about a potential sequel.
What Happened To Death Stranding 2?
We've reported a lot on Kojima and Death Stranding 2, but away from the gaming auteur having officially partnered with Microsoft, his typically cryptic way of teasing his projects had us guessing Sam Porter Bridges was going to return. Even if that's still on the cards, the Stadia vote of no confidence would've likely thrown a space whale-sized spanner in the works.
According to 9to5Google, Stadia pulled the plug on Death Stranding 2 in 2020 because it thought there was no market for single-player games. We're pretty sure God of War Ragnarok, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order would argue against that. Explaining more of what we're missing out on, Death Stranding 2 was said to be more of an "episodic horror game" than its predecessor.
The site claims that Stadia Vice-President and General Manager, Phil Harrison, decided to cancel the game when he saw mock-ups in 2020. If you remember to back then, Kojima did say one of his games was axed around the same time. It's true that Death Stranding had a rough start, but looking at its cult status now, Stadia seems foolish to have passed on the idea.
Will We Ever See Death Stranding 2?
Click to enlargeMore recently, there was the leak of Kojima's mystery game called Overdose. There's still no news on what the title is/was, but it looks like it involved Margaret Qualley, had horror elements, and could be played in both first and third-person. Whether Overdose is just a placeholder for Death Stranding 2 or something different, remains to be seen.
9to5Google points out that due to the production cycle of Death Stranding, it's unlikely we would've even got a sequel before Google Stadia kicked the bucket. Then again, with Google Stadia failing to deliver much in the way of AAA titles in its short lifespan, we find ourselves asking whether Death Stranding 2 could've saved it. None of that really matters, and with Kojima being as cagey as ever, all bets are off on what he's working on next. After all, he recently partnered with NASA to release a watch.