It sounds like another familiar celebrity face might be returning to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, as director Hideo Kojima has invited TV host and comedian Conan O’Brien to his studio to be scanned again so he can have him “in my new game.”
O’Brien was one of many celebrity cameos in Death Stranding – he talks a bunch about otters before giving you a cute otter hood that alters your movement in water. It’s only a small role, and not one that the comedian seemed overly impressed by in a new Clueless Gamer video (thanks, IGN) playing Death Stranding Director’s Cut: “Why did they make me so unfunny and needy?” he questions.
In the same video, O’Brien talks to Kojima to pitch a greater vision, suggesting that maybe in “another one of your games,” he could be “a bit more of a hero, not somebody who just tells otter jokes, you know what I mean? Like a guy who’s kind of the focus of the game?
While he doesn’t go as far as promising to make O’Brien the protagonist of his next blockbuster, Kojima responds: “If you visit our new studio, I want to scan you again, with better scanning technology, and have you in my new game!” It’s worth noting that he doesn’t mention Death Stranding 2 by name, and he’s currently working on multiple new projects, but considering O’Brien’s appearance in the first Death Stranding, it’d certainly make sense to bring him back for the sequel.
“Hideo, I accept your kind offer. I’ll see you very soon,” O’Brien says, before adding, “I will be staying at your apartment.”
We’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for O’Brien’s familiar face when the sequel eventually launches to see if he really made it in, although that may be a while off yet as Death Stranding 2 doesn’t currently have an announced release date outside of its general 2025 window. Curiously though, Kojima revealed in September that, internally, the date “has been decided and I’m currently working in preparation for that,” but that it’ll be revealed publicly sometime next year.