Rumor: Disappointing Death Stranding Sales May Have Cost Sony Funding

3.6
After the messy breakup with Konami, Hideo Kojima allied with Sony to produce Death Stranding, a game that left most players divided in terms of what they thought of it. Some praised its ambitiousness while others found the experience a bit tedious and boring. Based on new speculation, it also appears that Sony was also left a bit disappointed as well.

The information comes from a a moderator on the Resetera forums called Dusk Golem, who makes it clear that this information comes from things they've heard and doesn't come from a source that can be verified. As such, fans should take this information with a grain of salt for the time being. However, there are a few facts that mange to line up with at least some of the new Death Stranding speculation.

According to his source, Death Stranding was a disappointment to Sony as sales came to an abrupt halt after its initial launch window and hasn't reached many of the milestones they were hoping for. In fact, there are still more than 3 million copies sitting in warehouses. It's no secret that the game was fairly divisive in the community and it seems like a big reason for that is how troubled the development period was. The original plan was for a darker and scarier game, though development was soft rebooted and subsequently rushed with only about a year and a half left before launch.

The source also went on to claim that Sony and Kojima Productions had numerous disagreements during the development period and that other Sony studios weren't keen on the budget that was being spent on Death Stranding as a whole. As such, this is a big reason why the game wasn't ultimately transitioned to a PlayStation 5 game, even after the rebooted development.

To offset this, the source goes on to say that Sony is working out a deal with Konami to fund the development of a new Silent Hill game with Kojima Productions as the lead developer. The thought process here is that developing a lower-budget horror game based on a well known and established franchise with Kojima's name attached to it should bring a good return on investment as well as being a strong title for the PlayStation brand. Oddly enough, the source also mentioned Keiichiro Toyama and Team Silent, who would be put to work on another project based on the Silent Hill franchise.

Again, it's impossible to corroborate any of this information, so fans should take it with a grain of salt. However, in terms of sales, it remains a bit curious that Death Stranding is a game that Sony never really shared any milestones for like it typically does with major exclusives like Marvel's Spider-Man, Horizon: Zero Dawn, or God of War. Chart watchers also likely noticed that Death Stranding never had much staying power on the US and UK sales charts following its release, which could lend a bit more evidence into the lackluster sales mentioned by the source above. This week also saw the game drop to itswho lowest price ever at places like Amazon and Walmart, perhaps in an effort to reduce warehouse inventory.

Regardless, it's clear Kojima isn't quite done with the franchise as a new rumor has been recently making the rounds that something new is coming to the IP, with many pointing to a manga. PC players will also get their chance to reunite the fictional United Cities landscape when Death Standing arrives on Steam in June.



Posted:
Last Updated:
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Comments

"Rumor: Disappointing Death Stranding Sales May Have Cost Sony Funding" :: Login/Create an Account :: 12 comments

If you would like to post a comment please signin to your account or register for an account.

CentPosted:

Int
Cent
Int
OGTrey079
Cent Sad to see a game flop. From the trailer it didn't look so bad but I suppose it could be a completely different experience when actually playing the game.


Think it would flop even harder knowing how long it would of been in development just to walk around for 20 hours straight playing a ups simulator


Hahahah this comment is hilarious, is that how bad the game actually is?


I mean the trailer makes the game look great. If you actually watch gameplay it looks horrible lol.


I've just watched some gameplay and actually looks terrible.


I suppose that's how movies are as well. Trailers could look great and after 15 minutes of sitting in the theater you think why did I just spend over $20 on this lol.

IntPosted:

Cent
Int
OGTrey079
Cent Sad to see a game flop. From the trailer it didn't look so bad but I suppose it could be a completely different experience when actually playing the game.


Think it would flop even harder knowing how long it would of been in development just to walk around for 20 hours straight playing a ups simulator


Hahahah this comment is hilarious, is that how bad the game actually is?


I mean the trailer makes the game look great. If you actually watch gameplay it looks horrible lol.


I've just watched some gameplay and actually looks terrible.

CentPosted:

Int
OGTrey079
Cent Sad to see a game flop. From the trailer it didn't look so bad but I suppose it could be a completely different experience when actually playing the game.


Think it would flop even harder knowing how long it would of been in development just to walk around for 20 hours straight playing a ups simulator


Hahahah this comment is hilarious, is that how bad the game actually is?


I mean the trailer makes the game look great. If you actually watch gameplay it looks horrible lol.

IntPosted:

OGTrey079
Cent Sad to see a game flop. From the trailer it didn't look so bad but I suppose it could be a completely different experience when actually playing the game.


Think it would flop even harder knowing how long it would of been in development just to walk around for 20 hours straight playing a ups simulator


Hahahah this comment is hilarious, is that how bad the game actually is?

IntPosted:

Cent
Gossip Would've liked to see this on Xbox so I could've tried it at least.


It may have done better if they released it on more than the PS4 honestly.
Yeah most games that only release on one tend not to do that well tbh.

CentPosted:

Gossip Would've liked to see this on Xbox so I could've tried it at least.


It may have done better if they released it on more than the PS4 honestly.

GossipPosted:

Would've liked to see this on Xbox so I could've tried it at least.

CentPosted:

OGTrey079
Cent Sad to see a game flop. From the trailer it didn't look so bad but I suppose it could be a completely different experience when actually playing the game.


Think it would flop even harder knowing how long it would of been in development just to walk around for 20 hours straight playing a ups simulator


I guess it's good in a sense that maybe a small audience liked it lol.

OGTrey079Posted:

Cent Sad to see a game flop. From the trailer it didn't look so bad but I suppose it could be a completely different experience when actually playing the game.


Think it would flop even harder knowing how long it would of been in development just to walk around for 20 hours straight playing a ups simulator

IntPosted:

Gary It just seems like it released at a bad time. They should've just held it for a PS5. I also think the Pc release will do the numbers well. I plan on buying it.


Completely agree, I don't get why they would not wait for the PS5 and PC release.. sad to see though nonetheless.