Hideo Kojima Expands Death Stranding Team With Ex-Konami Staff

Death Stranding’s team of ex-Konami members just keeps on growing, along with our excitement.

Things have been a little rough for Konami lately following long-time game developer Hideo Kojima’s decision to call it quits. Despite the less-than-friendly split, Kojima had no trouble relocating, founding indie studio Kojima Productions and announcing his first solo title, Death Stranding, at E3 2016.

Side note, there’s a pretty decent chance we’ll see a brand new Death Stranding trailer on or before E3 this June, and we can’t wait. Why? Well, as it turns out, Kojima isn’t the only ex-Konami member working on the project.

A few days ago, WWG broke the news that The Death Stranding development team quietly added a few new members into the fold… all previous members of Konami. These include former game designers Jackie Tan and Masaki Saito; senior character designer Chihoko Uchiyama; FOX Engine dev Akio Sakamoto; and cinematic artist Yasuhiro Kawakami.

Learning that more Konami staff members have decided to follow Kojima’s lead isn’t exactly surprising. In December, VG24/7 reported that even former Konami president Shinji Hirano had found a new home with Kojima Productions. In addition, former Konami art director Yoji Shinkawa will be continuing his career as Hideo Kojima's lead artist. 

While little is known about Death Stranding at the moment, aside from the game’s two bizarre teaser trailers, it’s clear that Kojima is throwing everything he’s got into the project.

With an in-game cast that already includes actors Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) and Mads Mikkelsen (Doctor Strange, Rogue One), to director Guillermo Del Toro's participation, Death Stranding is shaping up to have some of the coolest talent hopping on board. 

In addition, the game will reportedly utilize the Decima Engine, which is being used to bring visually impressive games like Horizon Zero Dawn to life. Not to mention the interesting use of 360-degree photogrammetry, which Kojima recently took the time to comment on.

All in all, Death Stranding is shaping up to not only be one of the most anticipated PS4 games to date, but potentially one of the best indie releases of all time. We can’t wait to see what the next few years has in store for Hideo Kojima as an indie developer.

Morgan is a writer, indie game lover, and socially awkward coffee addict. Need something? Morgan can be reached at morgan.shaver@allgamers.com or if you like, you can say hello using GIFs on Twitter.

Nintendo Products

Shop Now

Xbox Products

Shop Now