Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima has announced the number of players who’ve played Kojima Productions‘ debut game across PS4/PS5 and PC. Calling it the studio’s “first child,” Kojima revealed that Death Stranding has reached more than 16 million players worldwide as of December 16, 2023.
Hideo Kojima thanks Death Stranding players
In a series of tweets as part of Kojima Productions’ eighth anniversary, Kojima thanked 16 million “porters” for playing Death Stranding.
Quite an impressive feat for a new IP. Kojima has since been working on Death Stranding 2 alongside a Microsoft game called OD. Both games have yet to be dated.
In a separate tweet, Kojima said that “creating things” isn’t a job for him. It’s something he enjoys doing irrespective of age and he doesn’t see himself retiring anytime soon. Kojima further revealed that when he started his own company, “everyone” opposed the idea including his friends, colleagues, and even relatives.
“They said it was impossible without the financial and organizational strength of a company,” Kojima recalled. “However, someone must prove that that is an old-fashioned way of thinking. Young creators must be given freedom of choice. This is one of the reasons why I continue to ‘create things.’”
The reason why I am independent and advocate a life-long career is because for me, “creating things” is no longer a job. That’s why there is no retirement. Creating things is living. One more thing. In the game industry, there are very few people who have succeeded in becoming… pic.twitter.com/48v9uWOk01— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 16, 2023