Famed director Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding has been surrounded in controversy since the game’s reveal a few years back, I mean we still don’t know what the game actually is. The game will be his first since leaving Konami after finished Metal Gear Solid V and his first original IP in a while.

Death Stranding’s first gameplay was shown off a few days ago at E3 with a brand new trailer. The trailer featured the game’s protagonist played by Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead fame. The game will also star Mads Mikkelsen in what seems an antagonistic role. The new trailer introduced two new characters played by Lindsay Wagner and Léa Seydoux.

This led to a few people thinking if Kojima was trying legitimize his games by using these high profile actors. In a recent interview with Telegraph he completely denies this when asked about the topic:

That’s not my aim at all. Game development is something that takes a lot of energy and requires a lot of time and is something you wholly invest your life into. I’m sure it’s the same case for making a movie but when you’re investing so much you don’t think about whether actors sell or whether they’re famous or they’re established. For me, it was more working with people I trust and people I like to work with. Back in the day, we didn’t use actors – we created characters from scratch like they did in anime. In my case, I’ve been making games for 32 years and the technology now means I can create whatever I can think of with 100% validity. But that’s not interesting because it has no analog element, it has no organic, living element. For example, if I had Norman here I might say I want him sitting in this chair and he’ll say, no, I think it would be better if I sit over here. And I’ll be, right, let’s see what comes out of it. I want to get the kind of chemical reaction that comes out of using these actors, to create the game and develop the game together. Working with Norman, working with Mads, working with Lindsay, working with Lea – all of them contribute a lot and have a lot of ideas. Especially Mads – he’s the guy who takes over the whole set at times!

Personally I think with Kojima talking about how he wanted to be a movie director, he’s trying to make a crossover between games and movies. Just think about those cutscenes in Metal Gear Solid 4!

Death Stranding is currently in development for the Playstation 4 and doesn’t have a release date.