On the latest episode of Hideo Kojima’s KOJI10 radio podcast (Episode 16), the veteran game director revealed why Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is going to be releasing in June. His answer gives insight into the various factors that impact game launch dates.
This recent episode of the TBS radio show, which started last October, had the theme of drinking at an izakaya (Japanese pub). Although Kojima revealed early in the episode that he doesn’t tend to drink alcohol nor get drunk, the prospect of a drunk Kojima seemed to have emboldened some listeners, with one asking: “Here’s a question that a drunk director might just answer… (Kojima: “I’m not drunk!”) Did you have any preferences for Death Stranding 2’s launch date? Is there a reason you are releasing it in June and not September?”
In his reply, Kojima first of all clarified that he can’t just release the game whenever he wants. When game development starts, the timeframe for the release has already been worked out, along with the budget. The projected launch windows of other games also play a big role in this decision.
“For example, Sony has various other games lined up,” Kojima explained. “So, we can’t overlap with these other titles. It’s the same with movies. This decision (about Death Stranding 2’s release date) was made quite a while back.”
Developed by Kojima Productions, Death Stranding 2 is being published by Sony. Although Kojima doesn’t name specific titles in the podcast, just looking at PS5 game release dates revealed so far indicates that there are already many titles that DS2 could clash with if it were slated for a September launch.
For example, Ghost of Yotei (the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima) is coming on October 2, and is one of Sony’s big first-party releases. As for other publishers, Konami is due to launch Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater on August 28. This MGS3 remake could also have ended up competing for players’ time with Sam Porter Bridges if Death Stranding 2 had a September release. Then there’s Gearbox’s Borderlands 4, which was originally due out on September 23 before being brought forward to September 12.
“Generally, games sell well in the West in October and November, I wanted to release (Death Stranding 2) around this time.” Kojima revealed, mentioning that in the past, a lot of his games hit shelves in November (such as the North American releases of MGS2 and MGS3). However, the need to not clash with the “many big games coming out this year,” meant that June was chosen instead.
“June was decided upon quite a while ago, whilst looking at the schedule. If we end up releasing Death Stranding 2 even slightly late, it will be a problem,” said Kojima, in reference to avoiding clashes with other new games.
Kojima went on to give an example of how a hypothetical sudden launch date reveal for a major title could impact other games’ releases: “For example, if GTA 6 were announced for November, the second that happened everyone else would move their game’s release date out of that month.” He added that “a game might take the player two months or so to finish,” which also must be taken into account when spacing out game releases.
Of course, game producers do sometimes abruptly move launch dates to avoid such clashes. For example, just this year, Sega decided to launch Like A Dragon: Pirates in Hawaii a week earlier to avoid clashing with Monster Hunter Wilds.
Kojima identified May/June, and September/October/November as good times to release games — however, another factor that needs to be considered is the promotion of the game, which must line-up with the release date as marketing costs aren’t something that can be easily recuperated if the game is delayed.
But what if you have a brand new IP? Kojima suggested February as a possible strategy (assuming there’s no MHW to contend with), as it is usually a quieter season where you won’t have to compete with as many established titles for advertising space.
We’ve got plenty more on Death Stranding 2, including an interview with Hideo Kojima himself, and our impressions after 30 hours of hands-on time.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
