Hideo Kojima points to Death Stranding’s “just a walking simulator” reputation as an example of how social media echo chambers distort reality

To commemorate the Japanese premiere of the dark comedy film Digger, Gizmodo Japan published a two-way interview between the film’s director Alejandro González Iñárritu and game developer (and certified cinephile) Hideo Kojima.

Talking about the broader themes of Digger, Kojima mentioned that Iñárritu’s new film reminds him of his 2001 stealth action Metal Gear Solid 2, which is often said to have “predicted” the digital society we currently live in. “Back in the day, social media didn’t exist, but I depicted a story in which social media became alive in a way. And now, that’s become our reality, and it’s the same in Digger. On social media, false information keeps amplifying, and there’s a terrifying possibility that it could end up influencing politics and our daily lives,” Kojima commented.

Iñárritu points out that the “most terrifying” thing for him is that humans are losing touch with a “shared reality.” Algorithms are dictating what content people get to see on their phones in a way that he describes as being shown only a “fragmented truth.” As an example, he mentions that the online conversations taking place around Digger are actually fueled by the stories surrounding it, not by the film itself, so even people who haven’t seen it have strong opinions about it.

Expanding on the topic, Kojima mentioned the reception of Death Stranding, known for its unique “delivery-based” gameplay loop. “People who haven’t played the game kept saying things like ‘This is just a walking simulator,’ as if they’d actually played it. The fact that this sentiment still persists is the most frightening,” Kojima commented.

According to Kojima, the loss of touch with what Iñárritu calls a “shared reality” within social media will be only amplified with AI in the mix. “People will only be exposed to the opinions they agree with and the things they like, so they won’t be able to encounter things and opinions that are completely different. That’s what I find the most frightening, and that’s why people will never run into anyone by chance either.”

Interestingly, in one of his previous interviews, Kojima said that this is one of the themes he had heavily explored in one of his most recent games, Death Stranding 2. “I have no intention to say, ‘Stop using the Internet.’ Because it’s really convenient. I also think it is because of the Internet that we were able to survive the Covid pandemic. However, I do believe it may be dangerous to get addicted to it […] What’s important about convenient technology is how you’re going to use it. My personal answer to this question is spoken through the mouths of my characters towards the end of Death Stranding 2.” 

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Hideo Kojima says Metal Gear and Death Stranding wouldn’t exist without the globalist and futuristic outlook he learned from 1970’s Osaka World Expo