Death Stranding Release Year Possibly Teased by Troy Baker
We may have received a hint at the release year for Death Stranding, the upcoming PS4 exclusive from legendary game creator Hideo Kojima, thanks to the “10 Year Challenge” meme that’s currently taking over the internet.
In the challenge, participants post a current picture of themselves next to one from 10 years ago. The entry of relevance to Kojima Productions’ mysterious game comes from Troy Baker, who is one of the most recognizable voice actors in the games industry and will be featured in Kojima’s first game since leaving Konami and the Metal Gear Solid franchise.
Baker tweeted a picture of Snow, a character he voiced in 2009’s Final Fantasy XIII, next to “The Man in the Golden Mask,” the currently unnamed character that he voices in Death Stranding. The picture is accompanied by the hashtag “#2009vs2019.”
Some in the gaming community are reading Baker’s tweet as a hint that Death Stranding is coming out this year, and it very well could be. Kojima has made a couple of statements that make a 2019 release seem possible, including one at TGS 2016 where he said that the game “will be out before the Olympics,” which take place in Tokyo next year. More recently, in an issue of Famitsu, Kojima asked “Is 2019 the year of the Whale? Please look forward to Death Stranding!”
We’ll have to wait and see when Death Stranding actually releases, but we’re definitely getting closer to the finish line. Yesterday, Guerilla Games Managing Director Hermen Hulst tweeted a picture of Kojima demoing the game at the Amsterdam-based studio. Guerilla provided its Decima game engine to Kojima three years ago when he was deciding on technologies to utilize in Death Stranding’s development.
The majority of Sony’s remaining PS4 exclusives, including Death Stranding, Dreams, The Last of Us Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima, don’t have definitive release dates. The only first party title confirmed for 2019 is Bend Studio’s Days Gone, which will release on April 26.
Kyle Flory
Kyle is a lifelong gamer and writer who studied English at Cal State San Bernardino. He has been a PlayStation fan since the release of Sony's original console and puts most of his game time in on his PS5. He loves Metal Gear Solid, and is currently working on getting platinum trophies for every game in the series.
