“I've never once said anything to Phil about wanting to create a Death Stranding sequel. I don't know who pulled this kind of information from where.”
Kojima denied on air the rumor that Google Stadia had turned down a Death Stranding sequel. He said he has known Phil Harrison for a very long time — since his Metal Gear days, when Harrison ran PlayStation in Europe — and that he supported Harrison during his time at Google, noting that the only true thing is that Stadia will close next year. He described the claim that Death Stranding would be a Google exclusive as unfounded, said it would be impossible that Harrison rejected it, and stated that he has never once told Harrison he wanted to create a Death Stranding sequel and does not know where that information came from. Kojima added that users forward such rumors to him almost every day.
“I've known Phil for a long time, even back when he was at PlayStation and handling things on the European side. […] The rumor that Death Stranding was in the works to be an exclusive title for Google is unfounded, and Phil Harrison ultimately rejecting that is quite impossible.”