Hideo Kojima has confirmed that he heard recent rumors of a new Death Stranding installment that could have been exclusive to Google Stadia, but the game was ultimately rejected by Phil Harrison. All of this is “baseless.”
Last month, a rumor of 9to5Google Hideo Kojima pitched a new Death Stranding sequel to Google that would be exclusive to Stadia. But the offer was turned down by Phil Harrison because he was focusing on other projects and at the time, the story raised some questions. Sony owns the rights to Death Stranding and it seems Part 2 is already in development.
Kojima has now confirmed that the rumor is not true in the latest episode of his podcast. This episode features Kojima and Jeff Kelly talking about rumors and how fake news spreads. One of them is Stadia content.
I have had good relations with Phil Harrison for a long time, since his Metal Gear days when he was in Europe, and the rumor that Death Stranding has exclusive Google content is unfounded, and Phil refuses that it is impossible, I have never said anything to Phil Harrison wants to do a new role for Death Stranding.
I don't know who extracted this kind of information and from where.
After Kojima confirmed that the rumors are not true, Kelly asked if Kojima was considering tweeting about these rumors and confirming that they are not true. Kojima responded by saying that tweeting about the news to debunk it is just a “never-ending game.” And that people would play with his words if he tried.
While the rumor of a Death Stranding sequel coming to Google Stadia is definitely not true, that doesn't necessarily mean that a new sequel isn't out there, it looks like we'll be waiting quite a while to see what's new from Kojima.