A new window for Death Stranding's long-awaited arrival may have finally been revealed in a reflexive fit of incompetence and/or internet comedy. It involves The Game Awards, a sharp-eyed fan, and who else but Walmart Canada - the same regional branch of the mega retailer that infamously leaked Rage 2 amongst several other announcements last year. It all started with a Tweet from host and producer Geoff Keighley.
Today we start transitioning into #TheGameAwards world premiere land. There are a LOT of games we won't be talking about at all until the show (All eyes on you @WalmartCanada) but we do have some great things to tease/announce in the week ahead.November 28, 2018
Then Twitter user Yinob brought up the Walmart Canada listing for Death Stranding, which sets the game's release date as June 30, 2019. Compare that to the Walmart US listing for Death Stranding, which currently has a more obvious placeholder date of December 31, 2018.
Hi Yinob. As per the information stated for this item, this is a pre-order that will ship in June.November 28, 2018
Walmart Canada just... tweeted that out. It wasn't even tagged in Yinob's response! And now we're left with so many questions. Was Walmart Canada's Twitter account simply robotically repeating the details listed on its product page for Death Stranding? Was it poking fun at its own complicity in the leaks of last year by sticking with what it knows is only a placeholder?
Or was this all actually pre-arranged behind the scenes by Keighley, Hideo Kojima, and the Walmart Canada social team as a pre-announcement tease for Death Stranding (which is likely to get another reveal of some kind at The Game Awards)? I find myself saying this a lot lately, but that does totally sound like the kind of thing Hideo "I'm going to pretend to be a heavily bandaged man named Joakim Mogren" Kojima would pull.
We'll find out soon enough. The Game Awards are set to air one week from now on Thursday, December 6, and more Kojima weirdness is always worth looking forward to.
See our own list of Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners, the biggest popularly-voted video game award show on the planet.