Following many teases, Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding 2 was revealed at The Game Awards 2022. Since then, director Hideo Kojima has spoken about “using new techniques” and rewriting its story during the pandemic.
Like its predecessor, there’s an extensive cast, which includes Elle Fanning of The Neon Demon and Maleficient fame. Fanning previously spoke about how the game “already looks so outstanding,” but it will be “so much better.” In a new interview with Josh Horowitz, she spoke about the motion capture experience and going through the process.
“I worked with all the same people from Avatar, all those guys. It wasn’t the same studio, but it was one of them, like in LA. I had never done it before, and I was… the whole experience, I was like they had to walk me through, and I did it, you know, with Léa Seydoux. She’s in it, and Norman Reedus is the main guy.
“But also, you’re all there together. I think, when I signed up for it, I wasn’t sure what it would entail. I didn’t know it would be true acting and scenes and stuff. There are emotional scenes in it, and Hideo’s there, and he’s like, ‘Okay, now you cry,’ and you’re like, ‘Oh, oh my God, okay.’ So, I have to get in the mood but in the whole suit.”
Fanning’s in-game look hasn’t been revealed, but she has seen it. “It’s me, but he does… you know, you look cool.” Fanning isn’t a gamer but will “definitely play.” Kojima even sent a PS3 to Fanning (which may have actually been a PS4 or PS5, since Death Stranding is on those platforms), and her “gamer friends” are “freaking out. This is the best thing I’ve ever done in their eyes, you know.”
Death Stranding 2 is coming to PS5, and though a release date hasn’t been confirmed, PlayStation Studios Visual Arts senior artist Frank Aliberti listed it for 2024. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime, either at the rumored PlayStation Showcase or the Summer Game Fest Showcase on June 8th.
