Death Stranding: Director’s Cut Isn’t Really A Director’s Cut According To Hideo Kojima

Announced during this year’s Summer Games Fest, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is a PS5 version of the divisive game that improves visuals and performance while adding features and mechanics that weren’t seen in the original. Despite bearing the director’s cut name, Hideo Kojima, the Game Director for Death Stranding, recently stated on Twitter that the moniker doesn’t sit well with him.

“A director’s cut in a movie is an additional edit to a shortened version that was either released reluctantly because the director did not have the right to edit it, or because the running time had to be shortened,” Kojima exclaimed. “In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector’s Plus? So, in my opinion, I don’t like to call [it a] “director’s cut.”

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In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector's Plus? So, in my opinion, I don't like to call "director's cut".

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 12, 2021

I must admit, the man has a point. Director’s cuts have historically been releases that meet the vision of the director, originally altered to appease certain constraints. The most recent and notable example of this has to be Justice League: The Snyder Cut, a fundamentally different movie from its theatrical release.

Nothing that’s being added in Death Stranding: Director’s Cut was left on the cutting room floor, according to Kojima, instead, all of the new content was conceived after the game’s release, so should it really be considered a director’s cut at all? Sony looks to be pretty keen on this new naming convention, with Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut also launching this year, so whether or not the title is accurate, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of it.

We recently discussed this very topic on the WellPlayed DLC Podcast, so if you’d like to know what games we think deserve to be revisited, give it a listen.

What do you think of the director’s cut title? What other games would you like to see get his treatment? Let us know.