Game producer Hideo Kojima appeared at the 2025 Disney+ Original Content Launch in Hong Kong earlier today and personally announced the launch of an original animated series based on his signature game, Death Stranding, tentatively titled Death Stranding Isolations.
This work is expected to be exclusively launched on Disney+ in 2027, marking Kojima Productions' first partnership with a global streaming video platform.
Using traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, telling a completely original story
According to the press conference, Hideo Kojima will serve as executive producer for "Death Stranding Isolations," and Yoshiyuki Sano, an executive producer of E&H production, will direct the film.
In terms of style, the production team chose the traditional hand-drawn 2D animation style instead of the 3D CG commonly seen in games, and the concept art was handled by Ilya Kuvshinov, a Russian illustrator and character designer who was responsible for Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045.
Regarding the plot, the official statement emphasizes that this will be a completely new story set within the Death Stranding universe, and will not directly reference or retell the game's original storyline. The currently known main storyline will focus on "the adventure journey of a young couple."
Following the A24 live-action movie, Kojima expands its IP universe.
The Death Stranding series has been quite active recently. Besides the sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which was released earlier this year, Hideo Kojima also announced a partnership with a well-known publisher in 2023.A24They are collaborating on the development of a live-action film, directed by Michael Sarnoski.
Compared to Netflix's recent aggressive moves to adapt games into animated series, such as Arcane, Electric Pirates: The Edge Walker, and Tomb Raider, Death Stranding Isolations appears to be Disney+'s first animated series based on a major game IP, demonstrating the increasingly fierce competition between the two streaming platforms for gamer viewers.
