Report: Stadia-exclusive Death Stranding successor turned down by Google

Following yesterday's news that Google Stadia would be shutting down in 2023, a report from 9to5Google alleges that Hideo Kojima was at one point making an exclusive title for the service. Allegedly some kind of follow up to Kojima Productions' 2019 game Death Stranding, the project was eventually canceled. 

Before Stadia's incoming end, Google attempted to get first-party games for the cloud streaming service off the ground. But the studios made to develop those games were closed, and third-party titles originally meant to be exclusive to the service (such as The Quarry and High on Life) later went to other publishers. 

A source speaking to 9to5Google added that Kojima's Death Stranding follow up would've been a strictly single player affair. The original game features asynchronous multiplayer, wherein actions players took affected the world for others, such as leaving ladders or creating signs. 

Google reportedly gave the game a greenlight at first, but canceled the game in 2020 after seeing early mockups. Allegedly, its status as a single player title was the reason for its cancellation, as Google didn't think single player titles had a market. 

Kojima's had an interest in cloud-based games for some time, according to a VGC report from last year. This past June, the developer announced announced a partnership with Xbox to release his studio's next game, which will use Xbox's cloud gaming technology.  

Kojima Productions' game was a smash hit when it released on PlayStation and later PC, and Kojima's presence on Stadia would've helped drive interest towards the platform. But whether his game could've saved the service from its ultimate fate, or put Kojima Productions in an uncertain spot similar to other developers rocked by yesterday's news, we'll never know.