Kojima Says Asian Actors 'Too Beautiful' To Scan Before Death Stranding 2

Summary

Kojima struggles to recreate Asian faces in CG due to the challenge of capturing smooth and delicate skin.
Characters with freckles or older actors are easier to scan with more detail.
Characters in Death Stranding 2 are white since Asian faces looked artificial due to smooth skin in CG.

While Hideo Kojima is a full-blooded Japanese individual, did you notice that in most of the legendary game creator’s games, there’s not a lot of Japanese or even Asian characters?

It’s not just from Kojima’s recently-released Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but even with his past works like the Metal Gear Solid franchise and whatnot, chances are, the characters you remember have a more Western inclination.

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Hideo Kojima Admits It’s Hard To Recreate Asian Faces In CG

Death Stranding 2 Photo Mode Elle Fanning Lea Seydoux Shioli Kutsuna

Speaking to IGN Japan, Kojima was asked about the casting of Japanese actress Shioli Kutsuna in Death Stranding 2, and Kojima used this opportunity to explain about the technical challenges in casting more Japanese talent in his games.

Kojima explained that recreating Asian (not just Japanese) faces in computer graphics (CG), especially women and younger actors, has been a big challenge for them over the years. It’s due to their Asian skin that looks “so smooth and beautiful that it ends p looking too artificial” when scanned and rendered in 3D.

The game director states (via machine translation), “It’s really hard to recreate Asian faces accurately in CG. Especially women and younger people, their skin is so smooth and beautiful that it ends up looking too artificial. This isn’t just limited to Japanese people; many Asians have incredibly fine and delicate skin, so when it’s rendered in CG, it tends to look fake,”

Additionally, Kojima notes that newer technology has made it easier, although he’s still hoping to improve it further. “On the other hand, older people or those with freckles scan with more detail. I’ve tried using Japanese actors before, but they never quite looked right… That said, this time we used new technology, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Of course, I still want to improve even more next time,” he added.

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Regardless if Death Stranding 2 featured a lot of Asian characters or not, it hasn’t affected the game’s quality. Over on Open Critic, Death Stranding 2 has now nestled itself as one of this year’s best games, with a 90 average review score from close to a hundred critics.

In other news related to the game, did you know Kojima put in his own Easter eggs in Death Stranding 2 since his staff wouldn’t do it? Aside from a live-action movie, an anime version of the franchise is also being developed, according to Kojima, although details about it have been scarce.

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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Systems

Released: June 26, 2025
ESRB: Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
Engine: Decima
Franchise: Death Stranding
Number of Players: Single-player
PS5 Release Date: June 26, 2025