It has been almost two years since Hideo Kojima's first post-Konami game, Death Stranding, was released on PS4 and then subsequently on PC. Fans have been curious to know what Kojima's next creative endeavor in the games industry would be, and while there have been plenty of rumors and reports, one that stands out is an Xbox-exclusive title.
Kojima's rumored Xbox game debate began when eagle-eyed fans noticed a Ludens Statue - Kojima Productions' mascot - sitting next to the Xbox logo on Phil Spencer's shelf during a livestream. Multiple rumors have emerged, with a report from Jeff Grub seemingly confirming the fact that Kojima Productions is in talks with Xbox to publish its next game. While this rumored collaboration has endless possibilities, Kojima's Xbox game should be different from Death Stranding in a number of ways.
Kojima's Xbox Game Needs to be Structurally Different from Death Stranding
Death Stranding was a fresh, ambitious project from Kojima Productions that stood out for its unique gameplay mechanics and asynchronous multiplayer component. While the core gameplay loop was fun and engaging, many mocked it for being a "walking simulator," thus limiting it from being accessible to a wide array of players. Death Stranding - in several ways - is a vastly different experience from Kojima's Metal Gear games, and it's no surprise that people who were expecting it to be similar were disappointed.
Death Stranding's exclusive nature and not adhering to a broader audience had implications, as the game ended up performing underwhelmingly compared to Sony's first-party games like God of War (2018) and Marvel's Spider-Man. However, Death Stranding had the advantage of shipping to a platform that has been home to Kojima Productions' games since the beginning, and as a result it managed to generate enough revenue to cover the game's development cost and secure funding for the next project. With Kojima's next game rumored to be on Xbox, the studio will be catering to a new audience, and as such, should make this game more inclusive structure-wise.
Xbox has primarily been home to some incredible first-person and third-person shooter games, and the ongoing generation also seems to crown Xbox as the house of western RPGs. Kojima has delivered some of the finest stealth-shooter experiences in the form of Metal Gear games, most of which are also on Xbox. With this rumored new Xbox exclusive title, Kojima has the opportunity to craft something unique that should specifically appeal to the Xbox audience. There is always the possibility of Death Stranding 2 being an Xbox exclusive similar to The Outer Worlds 2 and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, but unlike the latter, a new game in the Death Stranding franchise may not be sufficient for Kojima Productions to find its footing in the Xbox family.
Kojima's Xbox Game Needs to be a Highlight of Cloud Gaming
A new entry in an existing popular franchise or a brand-new IP that's more accessible and appealing to a diverse audience is a tried and tested way to compel gamers to transition to a new platform. For instance, the next entry in the critically acclaimed Half-Life series, Half-Life: Alyx, was a VR game that led to a tremendous increase in the sales of VR headsets. Hideo Kojima's rumored cloud-based Xbox game needs to be a similar highlight for Xbox cloud gaming that compels more people to try and nurture this next-gen gaming platform.
Early reports from this year seem to suggest that Kojima was working on an episodic horror game for Google Stadia that got canceled. A horror game could stand out in Xbox's ecosystem. In a time when Capcom has delivered the most confident Resident Evil game ever, and Dead Space is all set to return, Kojima could fill in the void that the beloved PT that could. Fans have to wait for any official announcements, though given Kojima's nature they should expect to be surprised if nothing else.
Death Stranding is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.