When Hideo Kojima, the creative genius behind Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders, tells the gaming world about his next project, it will inevitably catch everyone's attention. Fresh off a rocky end to his relationship with Konami, Kojima's then-newly formed studio Kojima Productions shocked the world when it unveiled Death Stranding at E3 2016. Although the trailer didn't leave fans much to go on, the pedigree of the team working on it and the bizarre influence of Kojima himself quickly caused Death Stranding to become one of the most anticipated games of E3 2017.

Unfortunately, however, it appears that gamers might have jumped the gun on Death Stranding's E3 2017 presence. Despite the fact that Kojima has frequently provided updates on the title throughout its development over the last calendar year, the beloved creator took to Twitter earlier today to reveal some disappointing news about his newest game:

Kojima was clearly well aware of the fact that most people assumed Death Stranding would have presence at E3 2017, as he prefaced the announcement with an apology to the fans who will inevitably be disheartened by the game's absence. Still, from what we know about Death Stranding so far, the game is an incredibly ambitious project that involves a number of people with busy schedules, so hearing from Kojima that he and the development team would rather focus entirely on getting the game done is great for Death Stranding's long-term health.

Still, the image Kojima shared is news in itself, and the "BRIDGES" element of the post is yet another cryptic message for a game that is, it seems, entirely composed of them. Kojima also pointed out that he would still be present at E3 2017 for an interview with Geoff Keighley on Wednesday, June 14, so there's still a chance we'll get more information regarding Kojima's new game just yet - perhaps, if nothing else, gamers might finally discover whether or not it is true that the already complicated Death Stranding has black holes in it, too.

Death Stranding is currently in development for PS4.

Source: Twitter