When Stadia launched, Google was rumored to be working with several prestigious game devs, including Hideo Kojima to produce exclusive content. Allegedly, the project Kojima pitched was a horror game that was initially approved. However, it ended up getting canceled because Stadia General Manager Phil Harrison didn’t believe there was a market for solo experiences in gaming anymore.
Google canceled Kojima’s Stadia-exclusive horror game because it was single-player
As far back as 2009, Harrison was making statements that he thought single-player gaming was over. Sources told 9to5Google that he allegedly brought that incorrect bias to Stadia, leading him to scrap the partnership with Kojima to make a Death Stranding follow-up. While this is a story that had been hinted at before, Google denied Kojima had made it past the pitch process with the game. However, this new report indicates that it was in the early stages of development when the plug was pulled.
Details are scarce as to what Kojima’s plans for the game were other than it had a focus on horror and would have seen an episodic release. If it was another game in the Death Stranding series, we can only guess at what aspects of the universe it would have covered. (We would have loved to see the first voidout.)
Fortunately, Kojima Productions is working on a full-sized sequel to Death Stranding, so things might have worked out for the best. Obviously, Stadia was mismanaged, which is proven by the fact that Elden Ring is likely to outsell Call of Duty this year.
