Hideo Kojima warns about the risks of the permanent disappearance of discs

The permanent loss of ownership rights over the works consumed by individuals is the main concern keeping the legendary Japanese developer awake at night. The creator of the Death Stranding franchise took to his social media to express a long-standing fear, foreseeing a troubling scenario where games, films, music albums, and literary works no longer belong to individuals but rather are fully managed by the corporations owning the streaming platforms. This dependency on servers and licensing agreements is a dangerous trap, leaving the audience at the mercy of unilateral corporate decisions.

“Eventually, even digital data will cease to be owned by individuals. Whenever there is a major change in the world, access could be abruptly cut off. We won't be able to freely access the movies, books, and music we love. That is what scares me.”

This bold statement by Hideo Kojima gained traction soon after Sony shocked the industry by announcing that they will cease the production of physical media for new PlayStation titles starting in 2028. This forced shift to a purely digital ecosystem fuels the director's arguments, highlighting how major publishers prefer to dictate market rules rather than respecting the traditional user's freedom of choice.

The designer's own history serves as concrete evidence to illustrate this digital cultural blackout he criticizes. The most iconic example of this vulnerability happened with P.T., the acclaimed playable teaser released for the PS4 console in 2014. Shortly after Konami canceled the Silent Hills project, the demo was summarily removed from the PlayStation Store and, over time, the system even blocked the download for those who had already kept the file linked to their personal account. It is an unfortunate situation that lays bare how easily the gaming industry's memory can be erased due to whims or backstage conflicts among executives.

Parallel to his philosophical statements online, the producer remains focused on creating his next psychological horror project aimed at computers and the Xbox Series ecosystem, temporarily titled OD.

The game development is progressing steadily, and the director has already hinted that the gameplay will feature innovative mechanics to help players too terrified to continue exploring the environments. Although the bureaucratic gears of this assistance system remain locked under absolute secrecy, seeing a creative mind focused on accessibility and building something genuinely frightening brings a necessary freshness to a genre that often relies on tired clichés. We hope that, when this title is released, the public will still have secure ways to preserve it for posterity without depending on the goodwill of external servers.