Game development has become a lengthy process. Many people may not even realize that some of their favorite games were being worked on for three, four, five, or more years. AAA development takes a long time, and that’s why some recent news from Hideo Kojima about his comeback game, Death Stranding, is a little surprising. By his timeline, the game has been in active development less than three years.
Hideo Kojima posted a brief sketch out of his timeline from leaving Konami to the present via his official Twitter, which you can see below. It details a search for an engine at the beginning of 2016, and shows that he did not actually decide on one until fall of that year (that engine being the Decima engine originally developed by Guerrilla Games). The promotional video for the engine is referenced as having to be stopped in December, with the office being completed on January of 2017. That would mean if this timeline is all correct, the game itself will have been in development for just under three years, barring no delays. That’s quite the turnaround.
Death Stranding will release on November 8th exclusively on PlayStation 4. Take a lot at the various editions of the game here.
2015/12/16 established KJP & started recruiting
2016/1 searching for engine
2016/4 making LUDENS CG
2016/5 moved to office
2016/6 announced 1st trailer
2016/7 announced KJP trailer
2016/fall engine decided
2016/12 announced PV by DECIMA had to stop shooting due to SAG strike— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 2, 2019
2017/1 office construction has been completed
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 2, 2019
