Google reportedly turned down Kojima's Death Stranding sequel for ill-fated Stadia

The Google Stadia's short-lived reign, to no one's surprise, has finally come to an end. The tech giant recently announced the game-streaming service's closure. Perhaps this was for the best as a recent report has revealed that an exclusive Death Stranding successor was also canceled for the unpopular platform.

According to the site 9to5Google, their source alleged that renowned game director Hideo Kojima was set to make a single-player follow-up to the innovative 2019 game exclusively for the Stadia. Here's how it went down.

---

Single-player aspect probably led to Google-Stadia-exclusive Death Stranding sequel getting axed

The game was going to be overseen by Hideo Kojima himself yet again. The successor saw its initial concept mockups shown off to Google in 2020 - which is only a year after the original game's release.

Unlike the original entry, this new game would have been purely single-player and not have any of the asynchronous multiplayer features that the 2019 installment boasted.

Death Stranding allowed players to leave behind handy trails for others to pick up on and help them on their journey to save America. However, citing a declining player interest in single-player games, Stadia General Manager, Phil Harrison, decided to can the project.

Kojima Productions (the team responsible for Death Stranding) can now focus their efforts on a true Death Stranding 2. In fact, returning cast member Norman Reedus (who played the main character Sam Bridges) confirmed that work is underway on the sequel.

The canceled game's focus on single-player definitely sounds odd given how asynchornous multiplayer was crucial in maintaining the connectivity theme of the game. So, it could have been a downgraded experience overall without those features.

Harrison's statement about a lack of a profitable market for single-player gaming also brings to mind something similar said by popular publisher EA.

It is, in one word, a shortsighted comment given how many iconic single-player experiences continue to dominate the gaming scene, including upcoming ones such as God of War: Ragnarok and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

At the end of the day, the fact remains that Stadia faced an untimely death, largely due to a variety of factors. It not appelaing to a large crowd of gamers is the main reason, thanks to its internet-mandatory design.

WIth its closure, many developers will definitely pull the plug on their upcoming projects for the platform.