Death Stranding a reaction to Trump and Brexit, creator says
Video game creator Hideo Kojima has said his new game, Death Stranding, is a reaction to US President Donald Trump and Brexit.
The acclaimed creator of the Metal Gear Solid series releases the game – his first independent project with his own production company – on November 8.
The Japanese developer told BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat that the game, which sees players travelling across a dystopian United States delivering messages and re-establishing a crippled internet connection, aimed to get people thinking about the importance of connections to each other.
He claimed the current political climate in the US and the UK was causing divisions in society.
“The era of today is about individualism,” he said.
“We may be connected through the internet more than ever, but what’s happening is that people are attacking each other because we’re so connected.
“President Trump right now is building a wall. Then you have Brexit, where the UK is trying to leave, there are lots of walls and people thinking only about themselves in the world.
“In Death Stranding we’re using bridges to represent connection – there are options to use them or break them. It’s all about making people think about the meaning of connection.”
Mr Kojima said he hoped the game, which has a high-profile cast including The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus and former Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen, could speak to players in a way he suggests social media cannot.
“When we’re connected we have a responsibility over each other, social media doesn’t seem to have that responsibility for example,” he said.
“Caring for each other is what makes people feel good. We’ve always been like that in the past, I want people to remember that and feel it in my game.”
The game is an exclusive on the PlayStation 4, before launching on PC next year.
Early reviews of Death Stranding have been mixed, with gaming website Eurogamer calling it a “baffling, haunting, grand folly”.
