Hideo Kojima says even death won’t stop him

Death Stranding director Hideo Kojima has said that he’ll “stick around” after death and continue making games by becoming an AI

Hideo Kojima, the director behind Death Stranding and the Metal Gear Solid series, has said that he’s still going to be making games in 50 to 100 years, as he hopes to “become an AI and stick around”.

The statement comes courtesy of an interview with IGN, where Kojima also briefly touched on a game he’s working on for Xbox consoles. According to the highly-celebrated game director, Microsoft was the only publisher that really understood his vision.

“The project required infrastructure that was never needed before,” Kojima told IGN, “I discussed it with lots of different big companies and gave presentations, but they really seemed to think I was mad. It was ultimately Microsoft who showed that they understood, and now we’re working together on the project”.

Kojima also told the outlet that he tends to get bored easily, which is part of the reason he’s able to continue making games for upwards of 30 years. He says that technology moves so quickly that there’s always something interesting happening to hold his attention, and that he’s always looking to incorporate new technology into his games.

Kojima was the lead on the Metal Gear Solid series for decades, until leaving Konami in 2015. Picture: Konami

Things took a turn for the strange when IGN asked what Kojima Productions, Kojima’s own development studio, would look like in 50-100 years. Kojima said that he hadn’t really thought much about it before, but he hopes that he’ll be able to keep creating things even after his body has perished.

“I’ll probably become an AI and stick around,” Kojima said, “You need to be stimulated in lots of different ways if you want to keep creating new things, so I imagine I’ll keep collaborating with others and taking in new things even if I’m an AI”.

It’s a strange sentiment, to be sure, but given how much of Kojima’s work has explored the themes of mortality and the impact a person leaves on the world, it’s probably not so unusual to see it coming from him.

Death Stranding 2 was announced at The Game Awards, and immediately had fans asking questions. Picture: Kojima Productions

Kojima recently announced his new game, Death Stranding 2, at The Game Awards. It was announced in an incredibly confusing and unusual trailer, in typical Kojima fashion, that raised far more questions than it answered, though it’s not the game he’s working on with Microsoft.

Death Stranding was also announced to be getting a movie adaptation, courtesy of a partnership between Kojima Productions and Hammerstone Studios. Few details are known about the film, but it sounds as if it might be additive to the Death Stranding universe, rather than a straightforward retelling of the first game’s story.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.