Kojima Productions recently held what they have termed a unity ceremony for their upcoming game Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. As reported by Kojima Productions’ official X account and the related accounts of staff members, the party had an interesting, traditional Japanese twist.

Announced back in 2022, the sequel to Death Stranding is set to be released on PS5 sometime in 2025. The Hideo Kojima game will see Sam and his companions set out on a new journey to save humankind from extinction. In was announced back in May that the filming for the game had been completed.

The unity ceremony held at Kojima Productions’ Tokyo HQ on August 2, featured a large custom-made black daruma with DS2 written on it in gold. Daruma are round traditional Japanese dolls, which are regarded as a symbol of good luck and perseverance. At first, both of the daruma’s eyes are plain white. The owner paints the left eye in black while thinking about a goal or wish. When the goal has been achieved, the right eye is filled in.

Hideo Kojima Death Stranding 2 daruma party — *Hideo Kojima paints the left eye of the daruma at Kojima Production’s Death Stranding 2 unity ceremony (Image credit:* *Kojima Productions on X*)

Death Stranding 2 daruma Kojima Productions

At Kojima Production’s Unity Party, all the staff members took turns to paint the left eye of the daruma, with Hideo Kojima adding the finishing touches to the left eye. The right eye is likely to be painted when Death Stranding 2 has been successfully completed. It seems that the aim of the party was to help the team feel united and motivated to achieve a common goal- to make Death Stranding 2 the best game it can be. The company also gave special badges featuring the daruma to staff members. Although commenters on X mentioned that they wanted one of these Death Stranding 2 daruma badges, it is not clear whether they will be made commercially available at the time of writing.