Hideo Kojima has offered further thoughts about what genre of game Death Stranding is, but it doesn’t really clear anything up.
There has been plenty of debate about what exactly Death Stranding is. Sure, it’s a video game, but video games come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Kojima has been pretty adamant that he doesn’t consider the game to be a shooter or a stealth title. Instead, he used the term “Social Stand System.” Today, he made another tweet about it, but it still doesn’t clear anything up.
The name of the new genre is not made by the creator but it comes after. I know that but I just like to name it as I did in my past titles. Calling it as Social Strand System is similar case when I called Tactical Espionage Action before it was categorized as Stealth Game.? pic.twitter.com/721xPxcxeW
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 6, 2019
Kojima seems to be saying that he is merely influencing discussion around the game in the same way he did in the past, about the Metal Gear series. Truthfully, I find all the discussion around the game to be very exciting, and I also like the void that Sony and Kojima are allowing that conversation to exist in.
New game launches and the discussions that spring from them tend to be incredibly tightly managed in modern gaming, to the point where there is often little room to do anything other than repeat PR approved talking points. While I am sure that some PR Exec somewhere is ripping their hair out right now, a bit of premature baldness is a small price to pay for some fun discussion.
Fans are coming up with all sorts of fun theories about what Social Strand System might actually mean. Some are predicting that the footsteps you can see in trailers are other players who are playing their own games and are in the same area as you. One particular nice theory I saw someone talk about was an ability to send supplies to other players or leave care packages out in the world that people can find. While it is all just fan theory, it is really fun to watch people come up with their own interpretations for what the system might mean.
We will be keeping an eye on Hideo Kojima to see if he lets anything else slip about the game, and will keep you updated with any breaking news.
