Death Stranding 2 is apparently in early development at Kojima Productions.
That's according to lead actor Norman Reedus, who plays protagonist Sam Porter Bridges in the original game. Speaking with Leo in a recent interview, Reedus casually mentioned that "we just started the second one" in reference to Death Stranding.
Discussing the game's reception, Reedus added: "And then the game came out, and it just won all these awards, and it was a huge thing, so we just started part two of that," reiterating that Death Stranding 2 is indeed in active development.
With this in mind, there's a non-trivial chance that Death Stranding 2 will properly surface during the upcoming slate of summer shows. This year's Summer Game Fest seems a likely stage; the Geoff Keighley-run show previously hosted the reveal of Death Stranding Director's Cut, and Keighley has worked with Hideo Kojima multiple times in the past, even appearing in Death Stranding as a hologram character.
The interview doesn't revisit this bombshell announcement, nor has Kojima Productions followed up on it at the time of writing, so we can only take Reedus' word at face value for now. That said, this isn't the first we've heard of Death Stranding 2. As of August 2021, the sequel was said to be "in negotiations" – also according to Reedus (by way of Google Translate).
This wouldn't be the first time an off-hand remark from the actor has unveiled what was probably meant to be a secret project, but just to be safe, we've reached out to Kojima Productions for additional details and confirmation regarding Reedus' comments.
The closest thing we have to an on-the-record comment from the studio is a brief note from Kojima dating back to October 2020.
Here's my way of designing new title w/Yoji. 1st we discuss the setting for each character, the background, the world, the color, the characteristics, the roles, the images, ideas and keyword going back&forth via E-mail. WFH & 20 mins direct discussion. Mostly texting via iPhone. pic.twitter.com/XCYpFwsQ6UJune 26, 2020
Addressing a snippet of concept art tied to a new project thought to be set in the Death Stranding universe – based purely on the technology and terminology used in the sketch rather than any official word – Kojima teased that "these aren't major plans, but just fragments of new ideas." If Reedus' latest comments are accurate, it would seem Death Stranding 2 has since become quite a major plan.
Kojima Productions is reportedly working on two games: one big, one small, with the latter apparently launching a new IP.
