Hideo Kojima says it “revolves around the music” and pieced together “mostly in my head – during flights and commutes” before editing.

Hideo Kojima’s work on the next trailer of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach continues ahead of its special panel at SXSW 2025. After weeks of teases, the studio founder and game director has confirmed it’s in the “final stages” of editing.

In a new tweet, he also discussed his editing process compared to his last trailer. The latter was structured around a “few cutscenes,” with Kojima creating a “very rough” storyboard and a rough track. “Using that as a base, I put together a temporary edit, which then guided the final composition of the music.”

However, the latest trailer “revolves around the music,” and since he’s had less time for hands-on editing (most likely due to ongoing crunch for the title), it’s come together in his head. “I’ve been piecing it together mostly in my head – during flights and commutes – before assembling it on the actual editing system.

“The initial cut, arranged intuitively based on the sound, is then refined through a more analytical approach, adjusting for narrative flow, misdirection, and transitions.”

While it will likely reveal more of the plot – or as much as we can decipher – the question is whether it provides a release date. After all, Kojima said a launch date announcement for the action-adventure title is coming this year. There’s also the hope that the SXSW panel offers up more gameplay, including potential new mechanics.

Stay tuned for updates on March 9th. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is scheduled to launch this year for PS5.