The trial test feedback of Death Stranding 2 is more positive than the first one, but creator Hideo Kojima said he was "not interested in attracting the mass market."

Despite the polarization of the first Death Stranding game, Hideo Kojima talked about how he absorbed player feedback in an interview with Edge magazine.

“Of course, I want people to play my game, so to some extent they have to listen to them,” he said, “but I also don’t want to make something that caters to everyone.”

Kojima explained that in previous game trials, 4 out of 10 people would fall in love with it, and 6 people would feel bad.“It’s a good balance for me,” he said.

However, the sequel received a more positive response."Sony is certainly happy, but I do hope it's a little more controversial," Kojima said. "The blockbusters need 80% positive reviews -- but I don't want to do games like that. I'm not interested in attracting the mass market or selling millions of copies, that's not my goal."

Kojima later admitted that many people still expected him to create something similar to Metal Gear, which also led to the upcoming game Physint.

"Of course, I had a lot of new ideas that I wanted to create," he said. "But when I got sick during the pandemic, I realized that a lot of people wanted me to do something like Metal Gear. Then I had the idea of ​​making a new spy game. I reflected on it and I told Sony that they were very supportive. We discussed a lot of solutions and finally decided to develop Physint."

In fact, judging from my trial experience of "Death Stranding 2", the game's focus on combat and stealth mechanisms is obviously a strong influence of "Metal Equipment".

“There are so many people around the world who want me to do another Metal Gear, so I added more combat options,” Kojima said during the trial. “I was a little worried when designing these mechanics, because many of the employees who worked with me in the Metal Gear are still working here, and we kept asking each other: ‘Did this feel too much like Metal Gear?’ It wasn’t meant to do it.”

In addition to "Physint", Kojima is also thinking about the legacy of his studio - Kojima Studio, and his future creative direction.

“I handed over the USB that documented all the ideas to the personal assistant—a bit like a will,” he told Edge. “Maybe after I left, they could continue to develop these ideas at Kojima Production…I’m worried about what happens to Kojima Production after I leave. I don’t want them to manage only existing IP.”

The creator already had the idea of ​​an endless sequel to the Death Stranding series, but he would no longer be involved in the production.

"Death Stranding 2" will be released on PS5 on June 25 next month.