Following Death Stranding's conspicuous absence from The Game Awards 2018, fans are more desperate than ever to find out when they'll be able to get their hands on Hideo Kojima's elusive new project. Fortunately, a recent tease from Kojima himself seems to suggest that the PS4 exclusive could be coming sooner than some expected.
Announced at E3 2016, Death Stranding has yet to receive an official release date, although the sparsity of footage and lack of gameplay detail could hint that it's still somewhat early in its development cycle. However, Kojima now seems to be teasing that the highly-anticipated title will hit store shelves as early as 2019.
The latest issue of Famitsu includes a New Year message from Kojima, which translates to, “Is 2019 the year of the Whale? Please look forward to Death Stranding!” The tease makes reference to imagery from the reveal trailer depicting cetacean stranding. Considering this is coming straight from the man heading the project, this is likely the most convincing evidence that Death Stranding's release is less than a year away.
Recently, a listing for Death Stranding was seen on Walmart Canada's website showing June 30, 2019 as the release date. Further, a Walmart representative replied to an inquiry on Twitter and confirmed that the pre-order "will ship in June." However, given the frequency of misleading placeholder dates on online listings, the leak should be taken with a heaping dose of salt.
Kojima's tease, on the other hand, was published by a reliable source and seems to clearly suggest a 2019 release window for Death Stranding. Even so, it's very possible that Kojima hasn't confirmed anything because he himself isn't sure when the project will wrap. If that's the case, 2019 could simply be an optimistic goal Kojima and his team are striving to meet.
While the decision not to appear at The Game Awards was surely disappointing for those following Death Stranding's development, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A recent video posted to Twitter by the legendary video game creator has fans wondering if a major announcement related to the project is in the pipeline.
Death Stranding does not have an official release date.
Source: Twinfinite