Hideo Kojiman odotettu Death Stranding julkaistiin marraskuussa 2019, ja Gamereactorin arvion pääsee lukemaan täällä. Pelin saama julkisuus oli kautta linjan hyvää, mutta kaupallisesti Death Stranding ei ollut odotettu menestys. Nyt tämä floppi näyttää aiheuttaneen kitkaa Kojima Productionsin ja Sonyn keskinäisiin suhteisiin. Ainakin sisäpiiriläishuhuilijan mukaan.
Dusk Golem (eli Aesthetic Gamer) on kertonut Reset Erassa, että kitka johtuu mielipide-eroista ja siitä, miten paljon Sony panosti pelin kehitykseen rahallisesti.
"Death Stranding was a flop. It sold well initially, but I've heard it has over 3 million unsold copies of what's been produced, but the sales kinda' slowed to a crawl and the game hasn't done as well as anyone involved has been hoping. Death Stranding was also originally supposed to be a very different game, a lot darker and more horror-esque, but around a year and a half before launch the development got soft rebooted. Sony and Kojima had some disagreements, and some other studios at Sony's Worldwide Studios were a bit upset at the money Kojima was getting for the game [...]".
Lisäksi Sony olisi halunnut Death Strandingin PS5:lle, mihin Kojima Productions ei suostunut.
"[...]along with disagreements lead to Death Stranding not ending up as a PS5 game and a sharper window for release even after the soft reboot. There's a looooot more here, but this is the part I'll share that's relevant."
