Hideo Kojima, knowing his fans are anxiously awaiting Death Stranding's upcoming appearance at E3 2018, is having a bit of fun. The Metal Gear creator took to Twitter to show his followers a mossy Death Stranding screenshot. That is to say that the screenshot features moss and rocks. It's an absolutely beautiful example of Death Stranding's engine at work, but it is just moss.

The Death Stranding screenshot doesn't appear to hide any secrets, though given what's known about the game one can't be sure. It seems to be a series of moss-covered rocks, perhaps alongside a riverbank, with a handful of plants growing along the edge. The image stands in stark contrast to what's previously been shown of Death Stranding, all of which has been very industrial and devoid of nature.

Could there be a face hidden in the shadows of the moss? Could someone be hiding beneath, with the moss as a blanket? These are all valid questions considering Death Stranding is a Hideo Kojima game.

death stranding engine moss

Kojima's post came via Twitter, partly in response to another tweet from Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. Earlier Monday, Druckmann made a post mentioning that it was "T-minus 3 weeks" until E3 2018 and attached a still from The Last of Us 2's reveal trailer. It seems Kojima saw this as an invitation, as his own tweet says "1+ on the T-minus 3 weeks." Let's hope it starts a trend of developers sharing early looks at what they'll be showing during E3 this year.

The second half of Kojima's tweet is much more straightforward. "Decima x Kojima = DS" reads the tweet, with Decima being the Decima engine that Kojima Productions has borrowed from Guerilla Games, Kojima being the legend himself, and DS is the product of the two -- Death Stranding. The simplest takeaway is that Kojima is posting this image to showcase the impressive capabilities of the Decima engine, without spoiling more meaningful content from the Death Stranding E3 trailer. Could there be a deeper meaning to the image or text? With Hideo Kojima, you never know.

Death Stranding will release for PS4, with a PC release to follow.