Hideo Kojima Reveals he added all his own cameos in Death Stranding 2

Hideo Kojima is well-known for his games’ meta layers and frequent nods to his own legacy — and his latest project, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, keeps the tradition alive.

In a new interview with GameSpark, Kojima jokingly revealed that he often inserts his own references into his games, because his team tends to feign confusion when he asks for them.

“I put all of these things in,” Kojima said. “Even if I tell the staff, ‘Please put them in!’, they just say, ‘Huh?’ and pretend not to know (laughs).”

Kojima went on to say that he even makes a cameo in Death Stranding 2 — as a constellation in the night sky.

“Some people might be a little put off (laughs),” he added.

Kojima has a long-standing tradition of appearing in his own games, as well as those developed by close collaborators. In the original Death Stranding, he shows up in the player’s private room under certain conditions, appearing covered in tar if the camera is pointed at Sam’s feet. He also appeared as a hologram in the game.

His farewell title at Konami, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, included a mission where players rescue Kojima himself, and he also showed up in Ground Zeroes, the game’s prologue.

Outside of his own work, Kojima appeared early in Cyberpunk 2077 as a character at a bar, and in Control as Dr. Yoshimi Tokui. In return, Control creator Sam Lake appeared in Death Stranding as a prepper.

It’s clear Kojima’s games aren’t just about storytelling — they’re also playgrounds for self-reference and creative in-jokes.