Kojima says claims of a Death Stranding sequel cancelled by Stadia are "unfounded"

Hideo Kojima says lingering claims that a Death Stranding sequel was originally in the works for Google Stadia but ultimately canceled are "unfounded."

Speaking on the 10th episode of his Brain Structure podcast, Kojima seemed to reference a report from last month claiming a Stadia-exclusive Death Stranding sequel was once being planned but was shelved by Google Stadia general manager Phil Harrison. Though his words have been translated from Japanese to English (officially, as part of the podcast, to be clear), it seems clear the famed director is frustrated by what he sees as misinformation on the web.

"How do you react to that?" Kojima asked hypothetically. "Users send me stuff like this directly, like 'word is going around about so and so.' It's constant, almost every day, and I don't know where the original source came from, so I can't say much about it."

Kojima goes on to say in no uncertain terms that he's never spoken to Harrison about a Death Stranding sequel.

"The rumor that Death Stranding, moreover a sequel, was in the works to be an exclusive title for Google is unfounded, and Phil Harrison ultimately rejecting that is quite impossible. I've never once said anything to Phil about wanting to create a Death Stranding sequel. I don't know who pulled this information, [or] from where."

Back in early 2021, another report claimed Harrison turned down a proposal from Kojima Productions to develop an episodic horror game. However, a Google representative told GamesRadar+ that those claims were "inaccurate" and "reported hearsay as fact."

Last month, a not-so-discreetly deleted tweet once again got fans hoping for Death Stranding 2, and back in May actor Norman Reedus seemed to confirm the project's existence. Despite this, we've yet to see anything concrete from Kojima Productions regarding the oft-rumored sequel.

In the same podcast episode, Kojima also definitively shut down rumors that he'd been involved in some way with Blue Box Games' Abandoned, which was reportedly in yet another state of disarray as recently as this past summer.

"I've never spoken with [Abandoned director] Hassan," Kojima said. "The game is yet to be released, right? I don't think there's much that he could do or say at this point, but if he releases the game, people might understand, so maybe he should just hurry up and release it. It'll die down after that. Plus, I'm not involved with it in any way. I don't know who started this rumor."

We do know Kojima is working on at least two different games, one of which may or may not be the other rumored game, Overdose, which is said to be a new horror title. 

Guess which of Kojima's playable teasers made our list of the best horror games of all time.