Hideo Kojima made Higgs sing more in Death Stranding 2 because he enjoyed watching Troy Baker perform on Instagram during the pandemic: "he really honored me in that"

Troy Baker has explained why Death Stranding antagonist Higgs sings so much in the sequel, and it's all thanks to his Instagram.

Despite being thoroughly dealt with in Death Stranding, Troy Baker's Higgs returned as the main antagonist of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, sporting a new look and a new penchant for music, with him playing a ridiculous guitar and singing often throughout the sequel. And according to Baker, this all came about because Hideo Kojima liked watching him singing songs on Instagram.

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"We're at The Game Awards, and Hideo comes up to me and says, 'Do you know why Higgs sings?'" Baker recalls on YouTube show Fall Damage. Baker adds that Kojima explained, "During the pandemic, whenever I felt sad, I would watch your Instagram Lives with you singing and playing guitar, and it would make me happy." And while Baker was confused as to why Kojima never told him about it while they were shooting, he said, "He really honored me in that, so I'm glad he gave me the chance to do it."

Higgs' other major addition in Death Stranding 2 is his super-powered guitar. Baker says, "The one thing you can count on with KJP [Kojima Productions] is they try to go as realistic as possible." He explained, "They actually 3D printed what my guitar looked like so that I could actually use it." He adds, "everyone had fun on set… especially Norman [Reedus], Norman's having the time of his life." Kojima has since been seen using said guitar at events, so presumably Baker did not get to take that home with him.

Hideo Kojima tried to give away free Death Stranding 2 tissues to market the game, but nobody wanted them until he tweeted about it: "Some went out of their way to avoid us."