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Kojima's Death Stranding Has A Complex Relationship With US Politics
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 08: A poster is displayed at "Death Stranding 2: On The Beach" – Game Premiere at The Orpheum Theatre on June 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo byfor Kojima Productions) Getty Images for Kojima Productions
Even though video games are often associated with American military valor (e.g., Call of Duty and Wolfenstein ), games like Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding have a history of criticizing US politics and military action.
I'm currently playing my way through Death Stranding 2 (2025), which, like previous games created by Hideo Kojima, takes heavy aim at American foreign policy. Set in a dystopia in which the world of the dead collides with the world of the living, the first game focused on a failing American government desperate to reassert its authority by reconnecting its citizens. The game ended ambiguously: was the protagonist, Sam, right to help the government regain partial control of the country?
The second game takes themes from the first (e.g., human connection, freedom, technology, violence) and puts them in a global context. Death Stranding 2 is especially critical of US immigration policy and imperialism—the game revolves around 'expanding' the morally ambiguous, US-based chiral network (a sci-fi version of the internet) first into Mexico, and then Australia, with aspirations for total global expansion.
While in the game the US government positions the chiral network as a boon for everyone, it's clear from the outset that it's a pretty insidious technology. Early in the game, it is revealed that the US government used braindead pregnant women from Mexico to fuel experiments on chiral networks. The babies of these women were essentially used as batteries to power American technological advancement.
This plotline taps into topical debates about ethics and technology. In particular, it reminded me of a recent book by Ruha Benjamin, Imagination , that argues that US technological progress is often built on exploitation, both at home and abroad.
A lot of Death Stranding 2 's not-so-subtle criticism of the US boils down to a critique of American exceptionalism—the longstanding historical idea that the US is distinct from, and superior to, other countries.
While Kojima has spoken about Death Stranding 's ties to current events, the game's critique of America isn't new in the video game world. The game's plot echoes comments Kojima made about the Metal Gear franchise over ten years ago in an interview with The Guardian : 'In the past the US was the centre of the world, where everything was happening . . . I think my stories have always sought to question this, maybe even criticise it.' Kojima has always used his games to push back against Hollywood depictions of American military action as glamorous and just.
But Kojima's not alone. Other games from the 2010s, including Irrational Games' Bioshock Infinite (2013) openly argued that American exceptionalism has led to acts of violence. Infinite takes place in the fictional city of Columbia. In the game world, Columbia was funded by the US government as a floating world's fair and display of American exceptionalism.
Infinite is quick to reveal however, that underneath Columbia's clean streets and statues of the founding fathers, lies an infrastructure built on class oppression and racism. Toward the beginning of Infinite , the game interrupts the player's stroll through patriotic fairgrounds to reveal a mob about to murder an interracial couple.
Like Death Stranding 2 's revelations about the insidious origins of the chiral network, Infinite portrays American greatness (progress, technology, wealth) as stemming from exploitation. Games like Red Dead 2 and Fallout 3 also criticize American military violence, though arguably in slightly less heavy handed ways than Infinite and DS .
American exceptionalism is a polarizing topic—one still relevant to American politics and social life. The phrase 'American exceptionalism' is being used in diverse conversations ranging from how the US should establish AI dominance over other countries to how librarians, researchers, and artists should positively valorize American history for the upcoming 250-year anniversary of America.
While video games offer a unique medium for exploring ideas about American politics, I'm skeptical about whether games like Death Stranding and Infinite actually persuade players to change their opinions about American imperialism, exceptionalism, or military violence.
Story wise these games are eager to critique themes like gun violence and imperialism. I often find these stories moving and compelling: it's hard not to feel for the characters in Death Stranding who are caught up in endless cycles of violence and trauma, victimized by a government that should be protecting them.
But, at the end of the day, a lot of the 'fun' of playing games like Death Stranding and Infinite comes from shooting things, conquering territories, and leveling up the arsenal. I'm enjoying DS 2 's story and gameplay, but there's an at times awkward tension between the message the game is desperately trying to get across, and the entertaining experience of gameplay. This tension is more pronounced in Death Stranding 2 than in the original , despite the sequel's overt political arguments.
