Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions have celebrated the studio’s 10th anniversary with a massive Beyond the Strand livestream, and here are all the announcements.
Kojima Productions launched a huge livestream last night ahead of Tokyo Game Show 2025, and it was titled Beyond The Strand. The showcase acted as a moment of celebration for the studio, as it is the tenth anniversary of Kojima Productions, and with the celebration, Kojima also gave some tantalising peeks behind the curtain at future game developments coming from the studio. This includes the previously announced OD and PHYSINT (announced at The Game Awards and Sony State of Play), which remain enigmatic despite the extra details given during the showcase.
Aside from the game developments, Kojima Productions also announced a Sake brand deal, gave a brief update on the A24-developed Death Stranding film, announced a partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group on a credit card, put a name to the upcoming Kojima Productions anime adaptation, Death Stranding: Mosquito, and more. All of the video game-related announcements from the Beyond the Strand livestream can be found below.
Beyond the Strand – The First Trailer for Xbox Game Studios’ OD
The Beyond the Strand livestream first gave way to Hideo Kojima and Xbox head Phil Spencer, who helped share the first trailer for OD, Kojima Productions’ Xbox Game Studios horror project. OD was revealed at The Game Awards alongside Director Jordan Peele as a working horror title that remained entirely mysterious until gameplay was shown at Beyond the Strand. Phil Spencer called the game “truly visionary” and said that “Kojima is innovating in gameplay, story, and player engagement” on stage, and Kojima agreed, stating “this is totally different,” regarding gameplay mechanics in OD.
While the gameplay segment kicked off with jarring imagery and ominous [REDACTED] statements, the played character moved shakily forward to light candles. The matchbox used is notably labelled “missing,” as the hoodie-sleeved hand extends forward to light each candle. One such candle is shaped horrifically like a baby’s head, and it starts to bleed profusely when the match is drawn across the candle’s scalp. After a baby’s cries and the blood from the candle pools, the audience is introduced to the character through reflection, played by Sophia Lillis, and she appears horrified until she is suddenly abducted from behind, ending the trailer.
OD will star Lillis, Udo Kier, and Hunter Schafer, and it will not be for the fainthearted. Kojima mentioned before the trailer aired, “I want to scan a ghost for the first time, and I want to get an award for that,” and he may have been completely serious.
Beyond the Strand – More Details Revealed on Physint
Announced one year ago at a Sony State of Play, Physint appeared to be a return to roots for Kojima as an espionage title steeped in mystery, and Beyond the Strand gave fans more details to scour ahead of release. Kojima said he was still in the conceptual phase and working on characters and stories, so not much was revealed outside of an official game poster (which can be seen below) and some cast members.
The revealed cast so far includes: Charlee Fraser (from Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Don Lee aka Ma Dong-seok (known for Marvel’s Eternals), and Minami Hamabe (from Godzilla Minus One). The end of the Physint segment at Beyond the Strand showed Hamabe’s character in-game, showing the in-game technology the new title will use.
Beyond the Strand – A24’s Death Stranding Moving Forward
Announced at the end of 2022, a film adaptation of Death Stranding was confirmed, and since then, we haven’t heard any news about production until Beyond the Strand. A24’s Sam Hanson came on stage to talk about the project during the showcase, and he revealed the film is still planned for a 2027 release and will feature a new story within the world of Death Stranding. Hanson also said, “We’re trying to find another story in the same universe that is both accessible to people who have never played the games before, but will also give something to the people that know the games really well,” possibly following the same path as Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, except with a new storyline set within the universe instead of a 1:1 retelling adaptation of events.
Beyond the Strand – Death Stranding: Mosquito Reveal Trailer
After letting the world know A24’s film adaptation is still in the works, a theatrical anime adaptation was then announced. The working title for the anime is Death Stranding: Mosquito, and it’s a new animation project from director Hiroshi Miyamoto and writer Aaron Guzikowski (with Hideo Kojima billed as Producer).
The idea behind Mosquito is that the animation team wanted the production to look markedly different from the video games, and with the new look comes a new protagonist. Sam Porter Bridges will not be the main character of Mosquito, and the new character will reportedly have the ability to “suck something really important.” While it the confirmed ‘something’ isn’t blood, the animation team still went with Mosquito as the working title.
While Beyond the Strand only showed a brief teaser, Death Stranding: Mosquito aims to expand the universe of Death Stranding in a new medium.
Beyond the Strand – Kojima Partners With Pokémon Go Creator Niantic For AR Project
A new project is coming from a collaboration between Kojima Productions and Niantic Spatial. After selling Pokémon Go to Scopely and doubling down on spatial technology, Niantic has partnered with Kojima Productions to push the boundaries of what’s possible in interactive storytelling and create an expansion into new forms of media beyond traditional gaming. For Niantic, the partnership is a way to show the potential of geospatial AI technology as a medium for storytelling, and for Kojima Productions, it’s another way to immerse the player deeper into their method of outside-the-box storytelling.
Kojima said, “It’s like the real Death Stranding in the real world, and you can connect with people, or you can connect with the actual environment there in your city. Previously, it was like virtual reality, but this time I’m thinking about connecting with the real environment.” Aside from the initial announcement though, no other details have been revealed on the collaboration.
That wraps all of the exciting gaming news at the Beyond the Strand 10th anniversary livestream from Kojima Productions. Fans looking for more information can head to the official website or YouTube to watch the entire over two-hour showcase fully.
