Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame) started up his own production house.
Death Stranding was the first project.
But nobody knew anything about it, and Kojima lived for that – that was our hook.
We worked closely with Kojima on what was revealed, and when. It was an incredible exercise in balancing the tension between strategic restraint with boundary-pushing creative.
conceptual development, creative copywriting, ux writing, product writing, content designThe Collective Reveal, Twitch live stream
Peculiar social posts teased the stream.
Fans realized the only way to see the full trailer was if they came
together – literal strength in numbers by a participation threshold “triggered” the reveal.
The Drop, TV spot
Stranded – work left behind
These pieces didn’t go live. Still some of my favorite work to this day.
Humanity’s Remains
We planned to reward fans with backstory by bringing them together through the game’s alternative gameplay philosophy of “asynchronous connections.”
In the game, players impacted each other without ever actually crossing paths. They could see where others walked and follow their journey, and drop loot to help others, for example.
This was the core of Humanity’s Remains – coming together to unlock game details, just be being there.
The World After mini-series
We continued the highly cinematic themes of Kojima’s upcoming
game and pitched a docu-style mini-series about the world,
ala dystopian Planet Earth. This is a sample script pitch.
Ep 1
We knew the world once.
Mapped its edges and interiors…
...carved paths through the lands.
Then there was a bang.
And the world transformed.
Our homeland now an alien landscape.
Oceans lap against coasts lined with stranded, bloated marine animals.
Onshore, vast open plains replace the vibrant and diverse landscapes of the eastern United States.
Across the country, craters, miles wide and hundreds of feet deep, dot the landscape.
Lakes bubbled up from their cracks, making those same craters that devastated all life.
Black liquid also flowed up, but from where nobody knows.
It now covers a large area of the country known as the Tar Belt.
The thick, slick substance works like quicksand.
But it isn’t from bad luck that its victims fall.
The Tar Belt is a predator, sliding along, hunting for its next prey.
Many think it best to avoid this when arranging travel plans.
40 years ago, the destruction of the planet rendered any travel method impossible.
The highways connecting the coastlines crumbled…
…airplanes were forever grounded…
...everyone cut off from everyone.
Today, infrastructure has adapted to the new world…
...but the chances of traveling by road are as slim as the chances of survival.
Across the dense, wild forests spanning the landscape, equally-wild bands of survivors camp out.
Obsessed with what they don’t have, these bandits stalk the landscape, waiting for unsuspecting couriers to appear.
From there, they strike.
Mountains and canyons offer impressive views to those determined enough to scale their peaks and cross their gaps.
Daring individuals who’ve succeeded in the past often leave their equipment behind for the next traveller.
This desire to work together in the face of adversity forms connections in a world where it no longer comes easy…
...bonding those who have made it to those who have yet to try.
These invisible ties between the last surviving members of humanity are a testament to its perseverance.
And though the landscape no longer resembles home, we survive.