Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding has been confirmed to be using the new Decima Engine, which is based off of Guerrilla Games’ technology that is being used for games like Horizon: Zero Dawn. At PlayStation Experience during a panel, PS4 system architect Mark Cerny talked about how the partnership between KojiPro and Guerrilla emerged.
Cerny first said he has no idea how far the engine could evolve. “I think what’s notable about Guerrilla Games’ technology, is that it’s not just graphics technology. It’s a great number of things. You design a world, you script AI for the enemies. It’s a very deep and intuitive toolset.
“I have absolutely no idea where it’s going to end. The one thing we know, as games companies that work on technology, is that it’s going to continue to evolve and get better. I could not hazard a guess as to where they’re going to take it.”
Interestingly enough, Guerrilla and KojiPro worked together on the same code, which was new to Cerny, and it’s to the point that you can’t tell who coded which lines. Most of it is still by Guerrilla though.
The collaboration came about primarily thanks to Cerny as he and Kojima traveled for two weeks and visited various studios, seeking the right tech for Death Stranding. The decision to go with Guerrilla was due to other studios’ engines being made for their own titles rather than open to others. The independence among staff in both Guerrilla and KojiPro was also noteworthy and helped the teams understand each other.
Death Stranding is in development currently for PS4 and PC.