Was Death Stranding 2 reworked because playtesters liked it too much? Composer Woodkid speaks out

Time of India

20-06-2025

Yoann
'Woodkid' Lemonine is a French composer who's worn many hats throughout his
career. From being a CGI artist in video games to directing the music videos
for Taylor Swift's Back To December and Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, the man
already had a meaty Resume before being hired by Kojima Productions to work on
the upcoming Death Stranding 2.
When
interviewed by the Rolling Stone magazine, Woodkid was promoting the soundtrack
he'd produced for the game, titled Woodkid for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
He then proceeded to reveal many eye-catching details about the game's
production, notably how director Hideo Kojima actually reworked the game
because playtesters were too uniform in their praise.
Kojima wanted the game to
be more divisive
When asked
whether he had any insights to share about Death Stranding 2's development,
Woodkid revealed that Kojima believed the uniform approval playtesters gave in
their feedback was a problem. As Woodkid put it, Kojima had said:
'I'm going to be very honest, we have
been testing the game with players and the results are too good. They like it
too much. That means something is wrong; we have to change something.'
According to Woodkid, Kojima was very concerned about the
finished game having too much mainstream appeal. Worried that these positive
reactions were actually indicators of an underlying blandness to the narrative,
Kojima actively worked to make the game more polarizing in response. He
believed that if players grew to appreciate the story over a prolonged period
instead of immediately liking what they saw, the game would end up far more
impactful.
Woodkid considers Death Stranding 2 a balancing act
Woodkid has called Death Stranding 2 both mainstream and
radical at the same time, and he believes that is a tricky balance to achieve. As
Woodkid put it, artists frequently compromise their creative vision to appeal
to the masses, but Kojima's an exception. Woodkid admired his singular
dedication to his creative vision, but he also considered Kojima to be
receptive to feedback, and considered his collaboration with the game director
to be a 'dialogue' rather than a one-sided relationship where he just did as he
was told.
Hideo Kojima has often worn his Hollywood influences on his
sleeve, but Woodkid ended his interview by claiming that just like the Metal
Gear franchise, Death Stranding would also prove to be massively impactful,
both in gaming and in Hollywood.