Director Kojima and a cast of splendid voice actors appeared on stage! The official report of the "DEATH STRANDING" launch event has arrived!

Sony Interactive Entertainment held the "DEATH STRANDING" launch event "DEATH STRANDING" World Strand Tour ( The "DEATH STRANDING" World Strand Tour 2019 TOKYO" was held on Sunday, November 10.

DEATH STRANDING" is the latest work by Hideo Kojima, one of Japan's leading game creators. The outbreak of "Death Stranding" has torn apart and divided people and cities. Having lost their connection, the human race is in danger of extinction. Sam Porter Bridges sets out on a mission to bring the "future" to those isolated and unable to move.

⇒ PS4 "DEATH STRANDING", released on 11/8, 2BRO. and director Hideo Kojima will be showing a video of the game in action!

The event featured a talk show between Kojima and the dubbed Japanese voice actors, a Q&A corner with about 200 fans selected by lottery, and a Guinness World Records certification ceremony for Kojima. The official report of the event is as follows.

（Here is the official report (original in Japanese)

Director Kojima, who travels around the world, made an appearance!

Director Kojima appeared on the stage immediately after the talk show with the Japanese dubbed voice actors, and was called on by MC Hatsune Matsushima, who asked the audience "Are you connected? Are you connected? and greeted them with high tension. He is currently in the middle of his "DEATH STRANDING" World Strand Tour 2019 and arrived in Japan early this morning, but he showed his energy to the approximately 200 fans who had gathered.

Next on stage were the voice actors who dubbed the Japanese language. The audience was thrilled to see the appearance of these seven too-gorgeous people: Kenjiro Tsuda as Sam Porter Bridges, Akio Otsuka as Die Hard Man, Kikuko Inoue as Amelie, Nana Mizuki as Fragile, Kazuhiro Yamaji as Cliff, Akihiko Ishizumi as Dead Man, and Satoshi Mikami as Higgs. This was the first time these members had gathered in one place.

From left to right: Director Hideo Kojima, Kenjiro Tsuda, Akio Otsuka, Kikuko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Akihiko Ishizumi, and Tetsu Mikami.

The "World Strand Tour 2019" was a great success in Europe and the United States! The "World Strand Tour 2019" has been a great success in Europe and the U.S., and will continue to Asia via Tokyo and Osaka.

At the beginning of the talk show, the progress of the "World Strand Tour 2019" was reported with videos. Starting with Paris, France, events have been held in London, England, Berlin, Germany, and New York to San Francisco in the United States. In the U.K., the audience met with director Nicolas Winding Refn, who plays Hartman, and in the U.S., Norman Reedus, who plays Sam, Lindsay Wagner, who plays Amelie, and Tommy Earl Jenkins, who plays Die Hard Man. All of the venues were filled with fans, demonstrating the worldwide popularity of Kojima's work and the high expectations for DEATH STRANDING.

The event will be held in Tokyo on this day, in Osaka on November 16 (Saturday), and in Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, and other cities in Asia.

The voice actors are also enjoying the grand story as it goes on sale!

The voice actors who have worked with the production team are also enjoying playing the game. Mikami-san is still in the early stages of the game and is wondering when Higgs, the character he played, will make his appearance. Ms. Inoue plans to enjoy the story first, saying, "I'm having a friend who is good at games play with me as I progress. Yamaji-san took on the challenge on his own, falling several times at the first cliff and laughing bitterly, "I'm exhausted. In the waiting room before the event began, MC Hatsune Matsushima gave him a lecture, and he was finally able to see the scene where Cliff makes his appearance. What is that atmosphere? He is enjoying it to the fullest.

Mr. Ishizumi said, "I was really surprised by the response. I thought I was participating in an extraordinary work," said Ishizumi, who was surprised by the reaction of the people around him. He has prepared a PS4 and is trying out the game for the first time. "It took me a day because I didn't know where to put the disk," he said, "but I'm just getting started.

Is the audio while playing in Japanese or English? English?
The next topic was the language setting of the audio in the game. Are the voice actors who dubbed the game playing in Japanese or English? Mr. Tsuda said that he felt uncomfortable when he heard his own performance, and "I thought I could do it more calmly if it wasn't in Japanese. I would love to listen to other people's voices, but I was embarrassed at first.

Yamaji was surprised to learn that the language setting could be switched even after the game started. He started playing with the Japanese voice, but like Tsuda, he became nervous when he heard his own voice and wanted to play with the English voice. However, he also said, "Tsuda-kun's tired voice with his luggage is so raw that I get tired of playing with him (laughs).

Questions from fans led to a series of secret stories about the recording!

The next corner was a Q&A session with the participating fans. Two full days have passed since the release of the game, and the speakers answered questions from fans who have already started playing the game.

Q. Do you have a favorite character other than the one you played? What is the director's favorite character?
To this question, Director Kojima first answered immediately, "I like them all! and immediately answered, "I like them all! Mr. Tsuda, after much deliberation, replied, "It's difficult to choose. Especially in my case, I am involved with everyone, so I have feelings for each of them. All of them are really good characters," he replied, "so I couldn't narrow it down to just one.

BB was mentioned by many of the female participants (Inoue and Mizuki) as a character that soothes them, with Inoue and Mizuki saying "I think it tickles my maternal instinct" (Mizuki) and "Yes, yes! It makes you feel like you've given birth! (Ms. Inoue). Ishizumi's favorite was BB, which made the audience gasp when she said, "I want to breastfeed her. As for the other male players, Otsuka said, "I haven't started yet, so I don't really know, but there is a woman with glasses in the game. I like her." He voted for Mamah because of her appearance. Yamaji said, "BB and Mizuki's role. I like Amelie. It's soothing." Before they knew it, it had become an opportunity to announce their favorite types.

Q. Is there anything that you feel has changed between the films you have appeared in and this recording?
The voice actors, who have appeared in many of Kojima's films, were asked if there were any changes in Kojima in the recording of this film. Director Kojima himself said, "We are the same, aren't we?" but Otsuka said there was a big difference. In the films in which Mr. Otsuka has played the main character, the video was created to match his performance, and the English voice was dubbed by a foreign cast member.

This time, however, it was the opposite. The foreign cast's lines came first, and the Japanese voice actors dubbed the Japanese version. The dubbing to match the length of the video made with English dialogue was a challenge, "It's hard not to spill over or make it too short," said Otsuka. The director says it's free, but it's not free" (Mr. Otsuka). Mr. Inoue said, "The one thing that has not changed is my sincerity. I knew that they were working as if they were draining the life out of me, and I was always drinking nutritional drinks and falling apart. ...... Mr. Otsuka quickly responded to her comment, "You must be worried. I've told you many times, you shouldn't drink that drink every day! He also scolded Director Kojima.

Q. Unlike your previous works, this time you play the role of the one who sees off the ship's crew.
What was important for Mr. Otsuka in his role this time was to give proper explanations. He said, "You have to tell the player what the mission is about. I always tried to convey the message in a way that was easy to understand before I asserted myself. I wasn't conscious of this when I was playing the main character, but this time I was very careful.

Director Kojima also mentioned the difference between Tommy Earl Jenkins, who plays the Die Hard Man, and Mr. Otsuka. Tommy speaks softly," Kojima said. But when Akio-san tells me what to do, I feel like I have to do it (laughs). (Laughs.) Even on the toughest missions, he says, "I understand. He is very persuasive." The audience laughed in agreement.

Q. I am a big fan of Mads Mikkelsen, so I am happy to see various versions of him. Could you tell us what the director had Mr. Yamaji focus on and what he paid attention to in his performance?
Director Kojima prefaces his comment by saying that Cliff is the only character he can't go into detail about, but he recalls, "I wanted to satisfy the fans of Mats-san and also satisfy the fans of Yamaji-san, so that I would be satisfied as well. It was like that," he recalls. For Mr. Yamaji, it seemed to bring back memories of the pressure he was under, "I was told every day that the fans would not allow it," but Mr. Otsuka, who knows Mr. Yamaji's abilities well, gave his approval of the quality of the work. But Mr. Otsuka, who is well acquainted with Mr. Yamaji's abilities, is confident in his work. I'll be fine. Thanks to Yamachan's work, Mats's charm comes out in full force. As a fellow actor, I can assure you of that," said Mr. Otsuka.

Q. What was the director's order for you to play the main character, Sam?
Director Kojima said, "Once I decided on Tsuda-san, I was already okay with it," to which Tsuda-san replied, "I was able to play the role because of Norman-san's voice and the incredible quality of the pictures. Director Kojima also made adjustments as needed to make the film fit better, and Mr. Tsuda said, "It was a really fun scene. I'm sad that it's over now.

Director Kojima also revealed how Mr. Tsuda was particular about his work. The character of Sam, played by Mr. Tsuda, has a lot of dialogue with other characters. When Sam's breath overlaps with other characters' lines, he usually records the breath separately and adjusts the timing, but Mr. Tsuda re-records all the lines. The audience was astonished by this attention to detail, which even his peers found astonishing.

Director Kojima has been recognized in two Guinness World Records! He is now the game director with the most followers on Twitter and Instagram!

After the Q&A session, it was announced that Kojima had been recognized by Guinness World Records! An official Guinness World Records certifier visited the venue and held a certification ceremony. The two records certified were "Game Director with the Most Followers on Twitter" and "Game Director with the Most Followers on Instagram.

In this global social networking site, having the most followers among all the world's renowned peers is considered to be a symbolic indicator of their international support, influence, and bond with that person, and celebrities from various fields have been awarded. This time, Kojima was honored for holding the record for the most followers as a game director and was presented with an official certificate.

Most followers on Twitter for a videogame director
Hideo Kojima 2,813,385 followers (as of November 8, 2019)
・Hideo Kojima Twitter account for a videogame director (English) : #

■Most followers on Instagram for a videogame director
Hideo Kojima 888,539 followers (as of November 8, 2019)
∙ Hideo Kojima Director Instagram account : #

On behalf of the speakers, Mr. Otsuka made a congratulatory comment. He said, "Since the director's Twitter account started, it gradually grew, and then one day I created an English version of the account, and it exploded, and I thought, wow, that's great, and then, wow, Guinness World Records! I'm happy that our Hideo Kojima has been climbing up to the world stage and I feel like I'm being rewarded for supporting him. Congratulations!" When he was congratulated, Director Kojima declared, "I was going to quit Twitter because it's too hard, but I'm going to continue! I was going to quit Twitter because it was getting too hard, but I'm going to keep doing it! The world record certification ceremony was a symbol of the connection between Kojima and his fans, which is typical of the theme of this work, "Connection.

The finale of the event was a moving speech by the voice actors.

At the end of the event, all the speakers commented on the release of "DEATH STRANDING". Otsuka-san was so moved that he cried as he spoke of his feelings toward Kojima, who is also a close friend of his. Kojima's eyes welled up and his voice was choked as he looked back on the events leading up to the release of the game and expressed his gratitude. Here are some of the comments that moved the audience.

Tetsu Mikami
（I haven't seen Higgs yet (in my gameplay), but I've enjoyed the first half of the video, and I'm just about to start the delivery in earnest. I hope to connect with you all in the future. Thank you very much for your time today.

Akihiko Ishizumi
I have stopped at the point where I put in my PS4 ID (laugh), so I would like to do that as soon as I get home. Thank you very much for today.

Kazuhiro Yamaji
As the director said, I shouldn't talk too much about Cliff, so I'll leave it at ....... Just one thing, everyone, please register your birthday. Enjoy.

Nana Mizuki
To the staff and Director Kojima, congratulations on the release of this game. I was really looking forward to this day. In terms of Fragile, I hope that everyone will love her, as she is a character who is also fighting with the baggage of life, thinking that I am the one who will be put to the test by Director Kojima again. We live in a world where we can connect anywhere with a single click, but we can also put our bodies on the line like Sam, sometimes getting bludgeoned, sometimes falling off a cliff, and being hurt by various things, and still be able to go see each other in person and touch each other. I hope that through this game, you can feel the connection between all of us. It was a pleasure to connect with you all today. Thank you very much.

Kikuko Inoue
Thank you very much for coming today. Thank you also to those of you who are watching the stream. And congratulations to the director on the successful release. I am so happy to be living as Amelie in this world, and when I tried the game, I found that the world is hundreds of times more interesting than I had imagined, and I am really impressed. I would like to tweet about this game so that many people can feel the fun of this game, and I am sure that I will be asking for your help as well. And now, I am filled with the feeling that everyone is my friend. I hope that you will continue to connect with many people and live in this harsh but fun world. I will be waiting for you all on the beach.

Akio Otsuka
Looking back, when the new Kojipro was born, there was a time when Director Hideo Kojima looked like he had the word "loneliness" written on his back. If he failed this time, he would have to go to ...... I'm really happy that we were able to release the game on November 8 (Friday), and that the team was able to come together as one, and that all the users around the world were able to come together as one, and that we were able to celebrate this day. Thank you all very much for today.

Kenjiro Tsuda.
I am really deeply moved. Director Kojima sent me a Twitter DM at ...... I was so happy to hear from him, because he said, "Are you interested in the game? He said, "Are you interested in the game?" I was very excited. Since we first connected there, it hasn't been that long, but I feel like I've been on a long journey with Sam, Director Kojima, and the KojiPro staff. Even I feel as if I have been on a long journey, but I feel that Director Kojima and the staff who supported him in creating this game have been on an even longer journey, running up cliffs and over snow-covered mountains. I was looking forward to the day of November 8 (Friday) with great anticipation. I was also looking forward to meeting you all in person today. I am glad to know that our journey connects us in this way. Let's continue to connect again. Thank you very much.

Director Hideo Kojima
I became independent four years ago, and although I had nothing to show for it, the only thing I had was the bond with my fans, who were waiting for me to create ....... I was just waiting for my fans to help me make it, and they were waiting for me to make it. I managed to get here by following the connections with all the artists, musicians, actors, and voice actors.

It took three years and nine months, and a lot of things happened, but we were able to complete the project and have everyone play it again. I have never been so happy, and I am very grateful for that. The game also emphasizes the importance of connection, and I felt the same way during the production process. In the game, you are trying to connect the world by yourself. I know that you are all carrying your own baggage, going through hardships, making mistakes, and doing many other things in your lives, but I think you will find that you are not alone. I hope that you will feel that there are many people like you in the world, and that you are connected with such people and that you are alive. I also felt this while creating the game, and I hope that the game will connect you, us and you, and furthermore, connect players to each other. ...... I hope that you will feel the importance of this connection in our lives, and that you will be able to make the most of the three or four years of hard work that I have put into this project. Thank you very much, everyone. Let's all connect with each other.

The language of flowers is "kizuna (bond). The voice actors present the director with a bouquet of marigolds
After everyone had finished their greetings, the voice actors presented a surprise gift to Director Kojima. Inoue-san and Mizuki-san presented a bouquet of bright marigolds. The language of the flowers was "kizuna (bond). On behalf of everyone, Ms. Tsuda said, "The world created by Director Kojima is beautiful. The venue was filled with applause when Mr. Tsuda gave his message of "Congratulations on the release of this product.

Product Information
DEATH STRANDING
Compatibility: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro
Genre: Action
Release date: November 8, 2019 (Friday)
Price:
Blu-ray Disc version
　Normal Edition Suggested Retail Price: 6,900 yen (excluding tax)
　Special Edition Suggested Retail Price: 7,900 yen (excluding tax)
　Collector's Edition Suggested Retail Price: 20,900 yen (excluding tax)
Downloadable Edition
　Normal Edition: Retail price: 7,590 yen (tax not included)
　Digital Deluxe Edition: Retail price: 9,790 yen (including tax)
CERO: D
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Developer: Kojima Productions Inc.

(C)Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Created and developed by KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS.
(C)Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.