Hideo Kojima has addressed recent rumors surrounding a potential exclusive contract with Google Stadia, said to have been in the works before news spread that the cloud-streaming platform was shutting down. It marks the end of Stadia's rather short lifespan, which will only have been live for just over three years once it is decommissioned in January.

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In Kojima's most recent episode of Brain Structure, an exclusive Spotify podcast, he and guest Geoff Keighley dedicated the vast majority of the half an hour running time to industry rumors. Kojima was unequivocal in his statement that any news surrounding a deal with Stadia was "unfounded," and proceeded to criticize the way in which modern gaming media operates, valuing immediacy above accuracy. Geoff Keighley offered his own opinion regarding the rumors, claiming that he found them difficult to believe given Death Stranding was initially exclusive on PlayStation, and would have likely been picked up by Sony again if any sequel was to be put into production.

death stranding creator and protagonist
Hideo kojima and norman reedus

Kojima is the focal point of many speculative stories, such as when a picture of him was associated with the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. What likely originated as a meme on 4chan, Kojima was subsequently falsely identified as the perpetrator of the attack, which was promoted by a French politician and several news outlets across the globe.

Regardless of how the Stadia rumor propagated, many believed that any decision to reject an exclusive Hideo Kojima video game was a misguided business move. How, or even if, Google plans to compensate existing contracts that have now been made void, is yet to receive any clarity, but fortunately some titles have already been able to find a new home on either Xbox or PlayStation.

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Source: Spotify