Hideo Kojima wrote several long posts that he shared on Kojima Productions’ Twitter account. In them, he discussed Death Stranding’s influences, themes and development. It’s clear a lot of thought was put into the game’s title, with death and “connecting strands” being central themes.

This confirms that development has indeed begun, though knowing Kojima (five years passed between his two most recent games, Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain) it could still be a long time before Death Stranding releases.

Hideo on some of the support we've been getting this far. pic.twitter.com/jyI0fr9syE — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Part 3 of 9. Two and a half months. pic.twitter.com/VqBPHIPPuV — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Part 4 of 9. Some of the new concepts for the game. pic.twitter.com/YH9VoMZ2FZ — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Kojima's comments hit on the meaninglessness of death in so many games. From Mario to Dark Souls, death is little more than a stopgap, a time penalty before you try the thing again. It'll be interesting to see how he tries to subvert that with Death Stranding.

Part 5 of 9. On what should and shouldn't be different. pic.twitter.com/MQ11oPNcz4 — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Kojima went on to mention the influence of a book from his youth, Rope by Kobo Abe.

Part 6 of 9. On Kobo Abe, one of Hideo's favorite authors. pic.twitter.com/2AkJ0eHSLi — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Part 7 of 9. On sticks and ropes. pic.twitter.com/RxgkNXOYRG — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Part 8 of 9, how Kobo Abe's sticks and ropes are keywords. pic.twitter.com/BcLcWUnjRL — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Part 9 of 9. When asked about what genre is the game. pic.twitter.com/QtZoGBsPta — Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 16, 2016

Well, if one of his goals is to create a new genre, then he’s certainly set the bar high.

Kojima also gave an inside look at the process of creating the game’s trailer (which you can watch here). Performance capture was used to bring Norman Reedus into the trailer. This meant a massive camera set-up and the good ol’ motion capture suit.

We’re excited to see Kojima’s first venture outside the Metal Gear franchise in a long time.