Game director Hideo Kojima's most recent project, Death Stranding, is perhaps his most personal game to date. It is his first full-length non-Metal Gear game in decades, and Kojima clearly enjoys the creative freedom. The game is dripping with Kojima-isms including weird science, a metaphorical narrative and unique tools for the player to experiment with during gameplay.
Death Stranding displays Kojima's love for pop culture through a cast of main characters portrayed by Hollywood actors and directors, such as Norman Reedus, using face-scanning technology. The celebrity appearances extend beyond the core cast of Death Stranding, as many of the "preppers" that the player meets use the likenesses of well-known celebrities. These familiar faces from around the world inject more of Kojima's personality into the game. Here's a look at Death Stranding's various celebrity cameos and why they were included in the game.
Junji Ito
Junji Ito is a famous Japanese artist and writer of horror manga. Ito's stories, including The Enigma of Amigara Fault and Uzumaki, often feature body horror and the supernatural. Junji Ito was also originally set to work with Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro on the canceled horror game Silent Hills, a highly-anticipated entry in the Silent Hill series.
The trio are reunited in Death Stranding, though del Toro and Ito appear as face models rather than collaborators. Ito's likeness appears as a survivor named The Engineer, who helpfully gifts the player with a Power Skeleton upon meeting them.
Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley, the gaming world's "traffic cop", is a Canadian video game journalist and presenter who is known for annually hosting The Game Awards. Keighley has been a vocal supporter of Hideo Kojima's work for many years and publicly spoke out against Konami when they barred Kojima from appearing at The Game Awards 2015. Keighley cameos in Death Stranding as The Ludens Fan, possibly poking fun at his public admiration for Kojima.
Hirokazu Hamamura
Hirokazu Hamamura is the former Editor-in-Chief of Famitsu, a Japanese gaming magazine, and the current president and CEO of Famitsu's publisher Enterbrain. This cameo caused a bit of controversy in Japan, as Famitsu gave Death Stranding a perfect review upon release and did not mentioned Hamamura's cameo.
Hamamura appears as The Collector, a hard-to-find prepper in the game's Central Region who tasks the player with delivering old PlayStation consoles. Famitsu's mascot, Necky the Fox, also cameos in a painting on a wall next to the bunker which houses Hamamura's character.
Conan O'Brien
American talk show host and comedian Conan O'Brien appears in Death Stranding as The Wandering MC, who lives with fellow prepper The Cosplayer. O'Brien has a popular segment on his show called The Clueless Gamer, and he has also appeared as a presenter at The Game Awards. The Wandering MC will give the player an Otter Hood for their trouble, which helps them swim in deep water and looks ridiculous. Unlike most other cameos in the game, Conan provides both the face and the voice of this prepper.
Errolson Hugh
Errolson Hugh is a Canadian fashion designer known for the Berlin-based ACRONYM clothing brand. Hideo Kojima is apparently a fan of his work, as he asked Hugh to create a real-life replica of protagonist Sam Porter's unique jacket. The J1A-GTKP jacket, created by ACRONYM, went on sale earlier this year for around $1,900 USD and sold out immediately.
Hermen Hulst
Hermen Hulst is the former Managing Director of Guerrilla Games, creators of Killzone and Horizon: Zero Dawn, and the current head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios. The Decimal Engine, created for Horizon: Zero Dawn, was lent to Hideo Kojima to make Death Stranding. There are also Death Stranding Easter eggs hidden in Horizon: Zero Dawn as a reference to the collaboration, including Sam Porter's necklace and cuffs.
Hulst appears in the game as The Craftsman, who gifts players with holograms depicting characters from Horizon: Zero Dawn, such as protagonist Aloy and the robotic Tallneck. These holograms can be used to customize structures such as Private Rooms or Timefall Shelters.
Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Jordan Vogt-Roberts is a Hollywood film director known for The Kings of Summer and Kong: Skull Island. Vogt-Roberts has also been set to direct a Metal Gear Solid film for some years now, which gives him a strong connection to Kojima. The two have reportedly collaborated on the film, and Vogt-Roberts intends to stay true to Kojima's original vision with the film adaptation. His character is Death Stranding is appropriately named The Film Director.
Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright is an English film director known for his comedy and action films like Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver. Hideo Kojima is a self-professed cinephile, and his admiration for Wright's films likely led to the cameo appearance. Wright's likeness is used for Thomas Southerland, the man who runs the Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City, so players can't miss him.
Manabu Makime
Manabu Makime is a famous Japanese writer, known for his novels The Fantastic Deer-Man and The Great Shu Ra Ra Boom. He is also a big Metal Gear fan and a close friend of Hideo Kojima. Makime appears in the game, appropriately, as The Novelist's Son.
Daichi Miura
Daichi Miura is a Japanese singer and songwriter, who is most famous for performing the theme songs for anime and television shows such as Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and Dragon Ball Super: Broly. In the game, Miura appears as a prepper named The Musician, who gifts the player with a harmonica which can be used to play music while Sam rests.
Tommy Wirkola
Tommy Wirkola is a Norwegian film director whose works include Dead Snow and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Kojima is a self-professed fan of Wirkola, making the director a logical inclusion in Death Stranding. Wirkola has a habit of making cameo appearances in his own movies, just as Hideo Kojima frequently makes small appearances in his own video games.
Sam Lake
A fellow gaming veteran, Sam Lake is a writer and the creative director of Remedy Entertainment. Lake's likeness has previously been used for the titular protagonist of the Max Payne series, making him no stranger to appearing within a game. He has also written games as Alan Wake and Control. Lake appears in Death Stranding as The Veteran Porter, paying tribute to his long history in the industry.