“Without Ryan, without you and your music, Death Stranding would not have been born. Your music will live forever in this world and in me.”
When Ryan Karazija (Low Roar) died in October 2022, Kojima published a message saying that without him and his music Death Stranding would not have been born.
“I built up the world of Death Stranding in parallel with Ryan's music, and I talked to him about how I wanted to use his music in the game too, not just the teaser.”
“Since the pandemic has gotten somewhat better, I was planning to ask him to do some more music for us. And then this news came in.”
“Ryan's songs are sensual and the sounds he creates are unique.”
“In Death Stranding, 'strand' stands for strings and connections, and I felt a mysterious connection to that song that I found in that CD shop in Reykjavík two years ago.”
“So in a game, I want there to be music that can stand alone and away from the game and be passed down to the next generation. That's the ideal.”