The last Death Stranding trailer teased a Decima logo that many assumed was the name of the new engine. After a PlayStation Experience livestream, Kojima confirmed that's the case and a lot more.
That's Guillermo del Toro's likeness in the game but he's not performing
While it's definitely Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen performing in the game, Guillermo del Toro's role is a little different.
Kojima explained that he asked del Toro if he "would like to perform in the game and he agreed". As a result Kojima's team took a variety of 3D scans of "his face, his hand, all sorts of expressions he has." But, while it's del Toro in spirit someone else will be performing him. Kojima's reasoning is that he couldn't "take too much time from Guillermo del Toro as he would get behind in his movies."
Kojima did also tease a female character but stated that "we’re not ready to announce that yet."
Everything we've seen so far is running in real time on a PS4 Pro
Kojima explains that everything we've seen so far is running on a PS4 Pro and in real time. Nothing has been pre-rendered. Because he's been setting up a new studio it means Kojima Productions has started from scratch and collaborating with a certain famous studio on the new engine. And that studio/engine is...
Decima is the new engine and it's a collaboration with Guerrilla Games
Guerrilla Games' managing director Hermen Hulst explains that "Decima is the Horizon Zero Dawn engine. It’s the game that all Guerrilla games have run on but it’s evolved. It’s a lot more than just a rendering engine. It’s got AI, physics and more in it."
Guerrilla Games sealed the deal by giving Kojima the Decima source code before any meetings
Apparently, when Kojima went to see Guerrilla Games they gave him a box before any meetings that contained the source code for the new engine. This "made me very happy" explains Koj, adding that "I'm confident that Hermen Hulst is insane."
Kojima Productions and Guerrilla Games are working very closely together
Kojima Productions are feeding back constantly to Guerrilla Games as it works on death Stranding. The relationship even involves a small Kojima Productions satellite studio working out of Guerrilla's Amsterdam studio to facilitate the teamwork.
