Kojima Productions’ upcoming action-adventure game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, was originally planned as DLC for the first game.
During the latest episode of the Koji Pro radio broadcast (via the Reset Era forums), Death Stranding 2: On the Beach director Hideo Kojima discussed that the game was initially planned as DLC for the first title or something along the lines of a “Death Stranding 1.5.”
The original concept explored how the Death Stranding event impacted the rest of the world, including the effect of Chiral clouds on rockets and likely space travel. In early January, 2020, Kojima reached out to Lea Seydoux to reprise her role as Fragile, and she agreed. The director intended to feature scenes with her that would have been included at the end of the Director’s Cut, with the ending being a cliffhanger. However, due to the pandemic and the inability to record performances with both Seydoux and Norman Reedus, the DLC plans were scrapped. Kojima instead reworked the concept into a full-fledged sequel, incorporating scenes involving Fragile and Sam from the scrapped DLC into the opening of Death Stranding 2.
Kojima also talked about a system the development team prototyped but ultimately removed. It was a hair growth system for Sam, similar to what’s found in Red Dead Redemption 2. Players would have been able to let Sam’s hair and beard grow out, cut and shave them in front of a mirror, or even dye them with different colors. The feature was ultimately scrapped because the director felt that Norman Reedus’ in-game appearance should remain true to how he actually looks.
The Death Stranding 2 development team scanned many of Kojima’s friends and celebrities to create characters for the Preppers. There were so many, in fact, that they hit the maximum limit of how many could appear in the game. Ultimately, the director had to apologize to all those who couldn’t be included. Most of the Preppers featured in the upcoming game also recorded voice performances and had the choice of giving input on how their characters would be envisioned. Kojima noted that, as of now, he isn’t one of the Preppers featured in Death Stranding 2.
As of now, there are no plans for post-launch DLC for Death Stranding 2. Kojima said that the market and industry have generally moved away from such concepts. Post-launch efforts will focus on bug fixes and patches, though the director is currently exploring whether he can incorporate something he couldn’t implement in the first game.
