Hideo Kojima says playtests for the original Death Stranding were pretty bad, with up to 60% of testers saying it "was a terrible game."
In an interview with Edge Magazine, Kojima explained that "I did a lot of monitoring tests for the first Death Stranding. I'd find that four out of ten people would love the game, and six would say it was a terrible game."
A 40% positivity rating sounds dire, but for Kojima "that's a good balance." Thankfully, however, it's not something he seems to be repeating with Death Stranding 2. In those tests, he says "everyone seems to be positive." That's good news for Sony, he says, but he personally wishes "it was a bit more controversial."
Pointing out that blockbuster movies often require an 80% approval rating before they make their way to cinemas, he says "I don't want to make games like that. I'm not interested in appealing to the mass market, or selling millions of copies. That's not what I'm aiming for."
Kojima does point out that he "can't afford to make a failure" - "I must take care of my studio, my staff, our production budget. But in essence I don't want to simply recreate something that's already in the world. I want to make something new." Thankfully, Kojima does seem to have the juice that lets him sell million of copies - recently, Death Stranding passed 20 million players. That's pretty impressive if you consider that 40% approval rating.
While we wait for June 26, check out all the new games of 2025 so you've got something to play in the next couple of months.
