Since I was a fan of theirs, I didn't want to kill their sound. I…

“Since I was a fan of theirs, I didn't want to kill their sound. I wanted to make the most out of what makes CHVRCHES special and create something that'll match Death Stranding.”

How he commissioned the end song of Death Stranding from CHVRCHES, according to Kojima: he said it is easy to ask for an existing song because you already know everything, but difficult to hire someone to make a new song — and equally difficult to be hired to make one. He explained the themes, showed them the opening at the time and the first 3–4 hours of the game, and told them the story and the characters. His principle was that, as a fan, he did not want to kill their sound; he wanted to make the most of what makes CHVRCHES special and create something that would match Death Stranding. On the process, when they shared their first draft he almost cried and called it great; there was back-and-forth feedback — Ian sent four different variations of the fade-out asking which he liked, showing detailed dedication — and when Kojima put the song with the credits the lyrics fit perfectly, a rare and very happy creative moment. His outstanding apology is that it is an incredible song but players must play 20 or 30 hours to reach it; he also proposed that next time they could use it in the opening credits so players hear it immediately. When they suggested titling the song Death Stranding he was surprised, but found it perfect and felt very honored.