Source: Stadia turned down an exclusive Death Stranding follow-up from Kojima - 9to5Google

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Before Google closed down the part successful 2021, Stadia Games and Entertainment turned down the accidental to person an exclusive follow-up to Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding.

When Stadia was archetypal announced successful 2019, Google did truthful with aplomb, showcasing a expansive imaginativeness for what unreality streaming exertion could enable, with ideas similar Stream Connect to instantly presumption your teammates’ gameplay. Rather than relying connected third-party companies to spot the merits of these ideas, Google formed Stadia Games & Entertainment — headed up by manufacture seasoned Jade Raymond — to make experiences that could lone beryllium imaginable connected Stadia.

A small implicit a twelvemonth into Stadia’s existence, however, with the work reportedly missing idiosyncratic targets by “hundreds of thousands,” Google began winding down the Stadia Games and Entertainment division. Before that shutdown, Google was moving with rather a fewer good known developers successful the gaming manufacture to trade Stadia exclusive titles.

Some companies similar Harmonix had been publically confirmed to beryllium moving connected Stadia titles portion names similar Yu Suzuki and Hideo Kojima were reported aft the fact. These efforts were presumed to effect successful second-party titles published by Stadia Games & Entertainment, arsenic opposed to the in-house games being developed by Shannon Studstill’s team and Google’s Star Labs.

A root has told 9to5Google that the crippled Kojima was moving connected was meant to beryllium a Stadia-exclusive follow-up to Death Stranding, a crippled which initially launched arsenic a PlayStation exclusive successful 2019. Where the archetypal Death Stranding was an asynchronous multiplayer crippled — wherever actions taken successful your satellite tin person an effect connected different players, specified arsenic gathering signs to assistance others find their mode — the projected crippled would beryllium strictly a single-player experience.

In fact, our root says it was that single-player quality of the crippled that led Google to cancel Stadia’s collaboration with Kojima, with the institution believing determination was nary longer a marketplace for solo experiences. Reportedly, the crippled had gotten archetypal support from Google and had begun the aboriginal stages of development. However, soon aft the archetypal mockups were shown successful mid 2020, Google scrapped the task entirely.

Previous reporting connected Kojima Productions’ intended Stadia efforts claimed it would beryllium an “episodic fearfulness game,” and that Kojima himself excited to enactment with the imaginable of the cloud. Ultimately, it was said to beryllium Stadia’s General Manager, Phil Harrison, who made the last telephone to cancel the Death Stranding follow-up.

Since that cancelation, with its much caller PC re-releases, Death Stranding has grown to beryllium a well-regarded crippled with a afloat sequel present said to beryllium successful the works. Beyond that, the enduring popularity of games similar God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Control shows that single-player games proceed to beryllium a halfway market, particularly for level exclusives.

Even with the payment of hindsight, it’s intolerable to cognize whether an exclusive crippled from Hideo Kojima would person made the quality for Stadia’s aboriginal arsenic a platform. According to Kojima’s ain timeline, the archetypal Death Stranding entered improvement successful 2015 and didn’t motorboat until 2019. If the follow-up required a akin timescale, it wouldn’t person adjacent seen merchandise earlier Google pulled the plug connected Stadia.