A new report claims Google has previously canceled its partnership with Hideo Kojima for the follow-up game Death Stranding, which was exclusive for Stadia, because of the game’s single-player nature. A new report supports claims from Hideo Kojima of Google that they canceled a game on Stadia due to their belief there was not a market for a single-player experience.
One of the games that were reported may be on its way out while Google Stadia struggles to get off the ground. One game on Google Stadia reportedly could have been from Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, although it is not clear whether the legendary designer was ever actually in the development stage.
According to VideoGameSchroncle, Mr. Kojima was working with Google in secret on an episodic horror title for Stadia before all the fuss broke out. According to VGC, there were a couple of big projects working for Stadia that never saw the light of day, including this Kojima Productions horror title. After this, it was revealed it was Google that canceled its sequel to Death Stranding.
The sources said Stadia canceled the multiplayer-focused game, led by former creative staff from Assassins Creed, a Journey into the Savage Planet sequel, and rejected pitches from Hideo Kojima (Death Stranding) and Yu Suzuki (Outrun) for creating Stadia-exclusive games.
Following the Google announcement that Google would shut down Stadia, the second report has now not only confirmed speculation but shared additional details on the canceled games. The report from VGC is not the first we have heard of the canceled game from Kojima Productions.
It is reported that Kojima Productions was looking to innovate in the cloud gaming space, and it would have been a chance to do that until Stadias General Manager Phil Harrison blocked the project. It is widespread speculation that any cloud-based projects that Kojima is working on with Xbox right now started out as a Stadia exclusive, prior to Google removing all first-party Google projects. A second report added that Google had canceled another project that involved Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki, but Google itself denied it all back then, in a statement to GamesRadar. Of course, it is entirely possible the new reports that Dead Stranding actress Margaret Qualley is in fact the bigger project, rather than the current ongoing Kojima Productions project that is under active development.
Of course, Kojima has never mentioned that Google Stadia was a factor in canceling this project, nor has it ever mentioned the project is either an episodic horror title or a Death Stranding sequel. Xbox has reportedly started to gear up for anything Hideo Kojima would need for the prolific developer’s next title, including hiring former Google Stadia employees to help bring Kojimas cloud-based episodic horror game to life, though additional details are unknown.
Hideo Kojima was reportedly keen on working on cloud-based tech for Stadia but is finding another opportunity with Microsoft, and his next game is set to be an Xbox exclusive. Hideo Kojima confirmed the long-running rumors that he is working with Xbox on a brand-new, cloud-based game on the Xbox Bethesda showcase, but other than that, few details have been shared.
