Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the sequel to Hideo Kojima's 2019 hit Death Stranding, was well-received at launch. It's "incredibly exciting and original," and "bold work that deserves to be encouraged," at least, according to our review. As a result, fans might be hoping for an eventual third game in the series. But for right now, Kojima isn't planning to make Death Stranding 3...even though he already has a concept written.
Kojima said this in an interview in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, as a part of the Death Stranding 2 World Strand Tour. When asked by the interviewer about Death Stranding 3, he replied with the following:
"I'm not planning to do that at the moment, because the ending of Death Stranding 2 was my finale of 1 and 2. But I already wrote the concept of DS3, so I have that in data. I hope that someone would create it for me."
This isn't the first time Kojima has suggested that someone else might pick up the mantle of his games after him. Back in May, he said that he'd been thinking more and more about his own death lately, prompting him to create a USB stick "kind of like a will" that lays out the future of his studio, Kojima Productions, if he dies.
“I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant, kind of like a will,” he said. “Perhaps they could continue to make things after I’m gone at Kojima Productions… This is a fear for me: what happens to Kojima Productions after I’m gone? I don’t want them to just manage our existing IP.”
While we won't be getting a Death Stranding 3 anytime soon it sounds like, there's plenty coming from Kojima's mind in the near future. Death Stranding is getting a live-action film adaptation in partnership with A24, and Kojima is busy working on two different games: horror project OD, in collaboration with Xbox, and Metal Gear successor Physint.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.