Hideo Kojima is not a man known for his subtlty, this much has always been known. The man who always shrouds himself and his games in mystery has been hard at work riling up fans about his next project, something that many expect at this point to be a sequel to 2019’s Death Stranding. Even this past week Kojima was teasing fans at PAX Australia, something this writer was there to confirm face-to-face with his very own eyeballs, leaning into his current “Who Am I”, “Where Am I” trend that he’s created. Now Kojima has set tongues wagging again sharing on Twitter his time hanging out with some of PlayStation’s senior marketing staff.

Eric Lempel, and Craig Malanka are the Senior Vice President of Marketing, and the Vice President of Global Marketing at PlayStation respectively, and so their appearance at Hideo Kojima’s studio, in photos that Kojima shared to his own personal Twitter account have certainly set off a number of alarm bells for fans who are anticipating news of a Death Stranding 2 in the coming months. The photos in question see the trio posing for photos next to Kojima’s Ludens statue in the studio, and while the intention in the photo is completely pure, it’s the reasons why Lempel and Malanka are in Japan with Kojima that are the mystery with a seemingly obvious answer – they’re together to work on a Death Stranding 2 marketing plan.