Hideo Kojima’s Industry Icon Award and Death Stranding trailer were two highlights from an excellent The Game Awards full of exciting and heartwarming moments.

At the 2015 The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley publicly outed Konami for banning Metal Gear Solid creator Kojima from attending the event and accepting any awards.

One year later, Keighley was finally able to offer Kojima “a moment he was robbed of”. The host delivered a beautiful speech detailing Kojima’s struggles and strength before awarding him the 2016 Industry Icon Award.

Kojima followed up his acceptance speech with “One more thing. I brought an early gift..please enjoy”.

The crowd roared with anticipation for another mysterious look at whatever Death Stranding might end up being.

This second trailer echoed many beats of the first, revealing two more familiar faces (del Toro and villain Mads Mikkelsen) alongside creepy imagery of babies and oily black substances. We also saw the debut of skeleton soldiers and what appeared to be tentacles bursting from the seams of a tank while planes flew over a rubbled city.

The blend of old war machines, futuristic baby-in-a-jar tech, and supernatural forces should make for the most Kojima-assed setting yet. There’s been little-to-no details of gameplay and the release is still a long ways off, but the gaming world will be keeping a close watch on any details to come.

It’s interesting to note that although del Toro’s face appears in the trailer, his name is not mentioned in the film-like credits. Could it just be a simple cameo for the trailer and/or a middle finger to Konami for cancelling P.T.? 

Kojima’s scheduled to appear on the Death Stranding panel at this weekend’s PSX show, so hopefully we’ll hear some answers there.

How did you feel about the show and Kojima’s contributions?