Death Stranding Wouldn’t Be Reality Without Horizon Zero Dawn and Its Core Element, Reveals Hideo Kojima

Hideo Kojima is considered one of the best game directors out there. He is known for creating gripping and unique narrative structures that push the boundaries of video games. He was earlier associated with the world-renowned studio Konami before a rift broke his ties with it.

Kojima set out to venture on his own with his new game Death Stranding in mind. He was utterly grateful for Horizon Zero Dawn and its core element to turn his dream of making the game into reality.

Hideo Kojima Reflects On What Made Death Stranding Possible

Death Stranding was released back in 2019, and it redefined the way open-world video games were perceived. It was one of the freshest games of that time and pushed the boundaries of video games in general.

However, the game was made possible all thanks to one man and his studio. Kojima was lucky enough to get a lot of support after his drift from Konami. After the separation, Kojima was on a hunt for a new engine for his new game, and he made several trips with Marc Cerny, the lead architect of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro, around the world.

On one such trip to Guerilla Games, he stumbled upon its latest game, Horizon Zero Dawn, and almost immediately fell in love with it. He was enamored by the philosophy of technology used in the game and wanted to do something similar with his new game.

He recalls an incident where he received a USB drive containing the entire source code of the engine without even signing the contract. Reflecting on the same, he said:

Hermen Mulst [Guerilla Games managing director] sent me this cool box with a USB drive containing the entire source code of the engine. This was quite a special moment for me because at that time we didn’t even have a contract. They just trusted me and my team with the code base. It’s fair to say that Hermen is as insane as I am.

A talent like Kojima attracts other like-minded people like a magnet attracts another magnet. They were meant to be together to create an impact and leave a lasting impression.

Kojima Was Lucky Enough To Find Like-Minded People

Hideo Kojima’s journey has been dramatic. He was one of the key members of Konami and worked on games like Metal Gear Solid, which revolutionized the stealth gaming genre completely. No stealth game was ever seen in the same light again.

After the rift, he was quite lucky to find people like Hermen Mulst and  Guillermo Del Toro who gave their full support to him and pushed him towards greatness.

Death Stranding 2 is just around the corner, and it too aims to push the boundaries of the previous game by offering us a unique experience and insight into the post-apocalyptic world infested by BTs. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments below.