“There was one incident that was really tough. The 2016 SAG strike. I thought it would end in two or three months, but it went on for a year.”
Asked about the darkest moment of Death Stranding’s development, Kojima said he was never so worried—the studio grew gradually and the teasers helped to consolidate the vision—except for one incident: the 2016 SAG strike. He thought it would end in two or three months but it went on for a year. During that time they could not negotiate with the actors; other large studios moved on to hire non‑SAG actors, but they had already announced Norman and Mads to the public and were not going to change them. That year was hard and he did not know what would happen. The other difficulty was teaching his way of making things—his culture, basically—to the new staff of a newly born studio, with veterans like Yoji but many people who did not yet understand it; he had to be on top of them almost all the time.
“Other large studios moved on to hire non-SAG actors. But for us, we had already announced Norman and Mats to the public and weren't about to change that. So that year was hard. […] I had to teach the new people my way of making things. My culture, basically.”