PlayStation 5 Release? Hideo Kojima Says ‘Death Stranding’ Is PS4 Only
Could the creator of Metal Gear have leaked PlayStation 5 release plans? Hideo Kojima was speaking at RTX Sydney when someone asked if Death Stranding was coming to the PS5, and he said no.
Kojima didn’t deny that such a console might be under wraps already at Sony, secretly in the planning phases, probably unknowingly revealing the console’s existence before Sony could. Having partnered with Sony to create his collaborative effort with Norman Reedus and Guillermo del Toro, he may be privileged with knowledge, which President Shuhei Yoshida and his people were keeping top secret.
It might also mean that the person asking about the PS5 might have been referring to the PS4 Pro, a hardware upgrade which Sony released around the same time as the Xbox One S. Both offer streaming 4K video from Netflix, YouTube, and other services for the appropriate TV. Both also use up-scaling to convert visuals of older games and make them look better on said TVs. However, only the Xbox One S offers true 4K resolution visuals natively for new games. The PS4 Pro merely does almost 4K, which to the untrained eye might not make much difference.
With the looming Project Scorpio coming later this year, Sony may feel the need to secretly develop another next-generation console. However, it would also mean the inevitable alienation of gamers who bought the PS4 Pro less than two years prior. While a secretly planned PlayStation 5 release would make sense on those lines, it hasn’t been confirmed or denied by the higher-ups at Sony.
Analyst Michael Pachter has stated that if the PS5 is being planned, we won’t see it until 2020. If it does happen, according to Gamepur, it will only be a response to Project Scorpio. Sony wants to see what happens with the upcoming Xbox first.
Kojima had apparently been looking for a partner for Death Stranding since its inception following what may have been a prior version called Silent Hills. Several people had made offers, including one in the United Arab Emirates, says Dual Shockers. Only Sony allowed him enough creative freedom to have Norman Reedus’ digital body completely naked in the first trailer. Being the creator of the increasingly creative Metal Gear series, Kojima had years of history working with Sony and knew most of the people at the top.
Hideo might also have known some of Sony’s more secret plans and accidentally revealed them by not saying enough. He was also asked if Death Stranding was going to be a PlayStation VR title, and he clearly answered that for now, there are no plans to take that route.
Considering the horror theme suggested by the visuals and title, and the fact that horror games work well in a first-person perspective, there is still the possibility. Kojima also suggested that gamers will notice something different about the game after the first few hours.
“Kojima feels that gamers [who] are used to playing AAA games on high-end platforms will feel at home in this kind of game, but after playing for two or three hours. they’ll notice that there’s something a little different about it.”
What this different element is, Hideo didn’t go into any detail. It’s extremely early in the game’s development cycle, and he says the team is still building the core game’s world. According to GameSpot, the developers are still experimenting and testing various “systems,” possibly meaning that the game could see online elements such as an MMORPG environment. It’s also unlikely to feel as “familiar” as popular franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty.
Hideo has also stated that if Death Stranding proves popular enough, he might consider a sequel, possibly on a future console. Until Sony confirms it, though, the PlayStation 5 release is only a rumor.
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