Death Stranding released to polarizing reception and relatively underwhelming sales nearly two years ago. The release resulted in speculation about Kojima Productions' partnership with PlayStation, and the future of Death Stranding. The concerns about a potential Kojima and PlayStation fallout reached new heights when rumors started floating about Sony rejecting Kojima's pitch for a new game.
Another interesting rumor from notable games journalist Jeff Grubb talked about Kojima partnering with Xbox for a future project. While this seemed too good to be true, there have been plenty of reports since then that further fuel the possibility. The Kojima-Xbox rumors made Kojima's future with PlayStation only more uncertain until Kojima announced Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PS5.
What Death Stranding Director's Cut Means For Kojima & PlayStation
A Death Stranding remastered for PS5 has long been rumored, though it fell under the radar after the talks of Xbox and Kojima's deal emerged. The announcement, as long as it might have taken, comes at an interesting time. Just a few weeks after the head of PlayStation Studios' Hermen Hulst discussed the future of PS5 and plausibly cleared the air surrounding PlayStation's partnership with Kojima Productions, seemingly debunking the Xbox rumors.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut isn't just a remaster of the PS4 version of the game; rather, it's an "expanded" version of the game. This PS5 version of the game was previously rumored to be called Death Stranding: Extended Edition, another interesting terminology that seemingly indicates that the PS5 version of the game comes loaded with new content. This could be in the form of new DLC, as teased in the Summer Game Fest trailer, or just extra content that didn't make it to the base game.
A Death Stranding: Director's Cut is presumably happening because Sony is confident about the game. This eradicates the rumor about Sony being unhappy about Death Stranding sales. Although Death Stranding didn't initially perform well commercially, it seemingly turned enough profit to recoup development costs and secure the development funds for Kojima Productions' next project.
Suffice it to say, the announcement of Death Stranding: Director's Cut, and the fact that Hermen Hulst considers Kojima Productions a part of PlayStation Studios, rules out possibilities of Kojima ditching PlayStation for Xbox. PlayStation Kojima fans shouldn't expect to miss out on Kojima's future games for the time being. While Kojima Productions could still collaborate with Xbox for a future title, as indicated by the release of MLB The Show 21 on Xbox devices, its year-long partnership with PlayStation couldn't be ruled out.
As such, a game developed by Kojima Productions exclusively for the Xbox ecosystem, or Xbox acquiring Kojima Productions, seems like an unrealistic and uncertain bet at this point despite rumors and reports claiming otherwise. Kojima Productions is currently hiring for an action game, and while there isn't' any confirmation on whether it's Death Stranding 2 or a new IP in the strand genre, it's safe to assume that it will be something weirdly innovative that only Kojima and his team can make.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut is in development for PS5.
