Death Stranding 2 is as much a rebuttal of Death Stranding's theme of connection as a sequel

Earlier today there was a mighty eruption of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach previews, featuring commentary on the new game's themes and social relevance from erstwhile Metal Gear Solidifier and Kojima Productions boss Hideo Kojima. Themes and social relevance, eh! Kojima is one of the few bigwigs who will engage openly with such things, which is perhaps less praise of Kojima than a judgement upon the hesitant and anodyne way other blockbuster game creators discuss the impact of their work. In this case, Kojima has talked at some length about how Death Stranding 2 builds on and, at times, resists the first game's theme of connection, based on his experiences of the Covid pandemic and his dislike of the "metaverse" - that ageing umbrella term for a newly monetisable "web 3.0" fauxtopia of networked technologies, ranging from VR to cryptocurrency, which many large video game publishers have sought to normalise in their hunger for profit growth. Read more

May 8, 2025 - 14:14

Death Stranding 2 is as much a rebuttal of Death Stranding's theme of connection as a sequel

Earlier today there was a mighty eruption of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach previews, featuring commentary on the new game's themes and social relevance from erstwhile Metal Gear Solidifier and Kojima Productions boss Hideo Kojima. Themes and social relevance, eh! Kojima is one of the few bigwigs who will engage openly with such things, which is perhaps less praise of Kojima than a judgement upon the hesitant and anodyne way other blockbuster game creators discuss the impact of their work.

In this case, Kojima has talked at some length about how Death Stranding 2 builds on and, at times, resists the first game's theme of connection, based on his experiences of the Covid pandemic and his dislike of the "metaverse" - that ageing umbrella term for a newly monetisable "web 3.0" fauxtopia of networked technologies, ranging from VR to cryptocurrency, which many large video game publishers have sought to normalise in their hunger for profit growth.