{"id":49673,"date":"2025-07-03T13:39:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T04:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=49673"},"modified":"2025-07-03T13:39:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T04:39:57","slug":"hideo-kojima-teases-what-death-stranding-2-on-the-beach-could-have-looked-like-without-the-pandemic-and-everyone-wants-to-see-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-teases-what-death-stranding-2-on-the-beach-could-have-looked-like-without-the-pandemic-and-everyone-wants-to-see-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Hideo Kojima teases what Death Stranding 2: On the Beach could have looked like without the pandemic, and everyone wants to see more\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Although <strong>Death Stranding 2: On the Beach<\/strong> was <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/death-stranding-2-dominates-top-four-spots-on-japan-pre-order-ranking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released this year<\/a>, development began as early as 2019. In January 2020, artist Yoji Shinkawa created several rough sketches of the main protagonists based on an early (now scrapped) version of the game\u2019s script. These sketches \u2013 which reveal a very different atmosphere from the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach we know now \u2013 were recently brought to light by Kojima, along with some insights regarding the rewritten script.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is one of the rough sketches that Yoji did for me back in January 2020, based on the pre-pandemic version of the DS2 script, which had just been completed right before the pandemic hit. But after going through the pandemic, I ended up rewriting the entire script from\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qCrZvKy0ah\">pic.twitter.com\/qCrZvKy0ah<\/a><\/p>&mdash; HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN\/status\/1940445110849634707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 2, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the concept art, Sam Bridges and Fragile look dapper and ready for a night on the town. When juxtaposed with the characters\u2019 current designs, these sketches make the final game look much grittier than Kojima\u2019s initial vision. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decision to make Sam and Fragile more closely resemble their original Death Stranding versions appears to be an intentional choice, one that highlights Kojima&#8217;s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Kojima never intended for Death Stranding to echo the feelings of loneliness and isolation that people experienced during the pandemic (feelings they would encounter months after the game\u2019s 2019 release), its story and gameplay loop ended up resonating with them. Kojima ended up rewriting the entire Death Stranding 2: On the Beach script, using the first game as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/death-stranding-2-is-hideo-kojimas-way-of-telling-us-not-to-let-the-internet-and-ai-hijack-our-decision-making-humans-need-coincidence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his and others\u2019 experiences of the pandemic<\/a> as inspiration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1349\" height=\"756\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1349px) 100vw, 1349px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250703-49673-001.jpg\" alt=\"Death Stranding 2\" class=\"wp-image-49678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250703-49673-001.jpg 1349w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250703-49673-001-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250703-49673-001-768x430.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As well-received as the final game is, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cataclysmkrew\/status\/1940455435125117007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">many Kojima fans<\/a> would like to see <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GrowingBonsaii\/status\/1940445679866012026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the original script for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach<\/a>, or at least more concept art from this stage of development. Seeing Sam and Fragile in formal wear instead of their usual Standard Issue Bridges Suit and Fragile Express leather outfit makes one wonder if the original script included a more hopeful future \u2013 one where a connected United Cities of America brought about a new Renaissance for the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We might never see Kojima\u2019s initial vision for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but perhaps he could talk about it in <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/16bw2WaRofqq7Vk6A88wLy?si=16aea49980ce43b7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his Brain Structure podcast<\/a> or incorporate elements of the original script into <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/death-stranding-2-on-the-beachs-new-plate-gates-could-allow-endless-sequels-but-kojima-doesnt-plan-on-making-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a future title<\/a>. At the very least, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CarsonTate17\/status\/1940501279333405026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">people want to see Sam Bridges in a suit<\/a> via an in-game cosmetic item.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is available for PlayStation 5.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hideo Kojima has published concept art by Yoji Shinkawa created based on a now scrapped version of Death Stranding 2&#8217;s script.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":49676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-49673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hideo Kojima teases what Death Stranding 2: On the Beach could have looked like without the pandemic, and everyone wants to see more\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hideo Kojima has published concept art by Yoji Shinkawa created based on a now scrapped version of Death Stranding 2&#039;s script.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-teases-what-death-stranding-2-on-the-beach-could-have-looked-like-without-the-pandemic-and-everyone-wants-to-see-more\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hideo Kojima teases what Death Stranding 2: On the Beach could have looked like without the pandemic, and everyone wants to see more\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hideo Kojima has published concept art by Yoji Shinkawa created based on a now scrapped version of Death Stranding 2&#039;s script.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-teases-what-death-stranding-2-on-the-beach-could-have-looked-like-without-the-pandemic-and-everyone-wants-to-see-more\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T04:39:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T04:39:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250703-49673-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1343\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"757\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hideo Kojima teases what Death Stranding 2: On the Beach could have looked like without the pandemic, and everyone wants to see more\u00a0 - 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