'Death Stranding' News: Hideo Kojima Hints Different Approach in Multiplayer, Refutes Rumors About His Lax Approach on Development
Following the release of new footage from the highly anticipated "Death Stranding," creator Hideo Kojima discussed what to expect in the enigmatic game including multiplayer.
In a sit-down interview with IGN during PlayStation Experience (PSX) 2017, the renowned creator teased that he is taking a new direction in the multiplayer.
Like Kojima's previous creations, "Death Stranding" is inspired from the work of Japanese author Kobo Abe specifically "The Man Who Turned into a Stick."
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The masterpiece states that the stick and the rope are the first two things that mankind created — the former to distance himself from bad things and the latter to keep the important matters close.
Such concept is present in the multiplayer component of majority of Kojima's games, but "Death Stranding," while it will have such elements, will implement it differently. So when asked about multiplayer, this is what he had to say:
That's also one big part of the game I can't talk too much about, but I definitely want to try something different for online. I think there are a lot of people out there who still enjoy single-player games, aside from some microtransactions.
As for the game mechanics, "Death Stranding" separates itself from other games by having death not synonymous to "game over."
One of the themes of this game is life and death. So I want people to realize that when they die in the game, that isn't the end.
When protagonist Sam (played by Norman Reedus) dies in "Death Stranding," they will be transported in a purgatory that they can explore and return to the world of the living exactly the way they left it.
So as you saw in the trailer, you saw the crater, and when you come back, it's still there. Most games would've taken you back to before the crater was made. So depending on the player, you might have a lot of craters all over the place — depends on each player. Death will never pull you out of the game.
"Death Stranding" has no release date yet, but one thing is for sure. Unlike what he has been reading on the internet about messing around and "wasting money," Kojima and his team have been hard at work on the Decima engine.
On our end, of course, we use the Decima engine very differently from the way they use it, especially when it comes to the cutscenes. So we make our own things there, and send it to them, show it to them, get their feedback. We are at that pace, currently.
He says that with all the tools he needs to put "Death Stranding" together — the engine and the team — he is "doing this pretty fast."
Even then, it's pretty standard for a AAA game to take three to five years to develop their games. For some games, it can take up to 10 years.
