Death Stranding Studio Sends Employees Home After Dev Tests Positive For COVID-19

Death Stranding developer Kojima Productions has sent its developers home to work remotely after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. A March 30 memo from the Japanese developer confirms that the affected staffer was at home since March 20 and had not been in the Kojima Productions office since then.

The developer said it has been working closely with public health officials who informed the studio that because this person did not display symptoms until they were at home, away from the office, the rest of the developers are not labeled as "close contacts." Therefore, officially, Kojima Productions could stay open. However, the studio has itself decided to close down and shift to a work-from-home setup in the interest of keeping its developers and the community safe.

As such, the Kojima Productions office is now closed. Additionally, the company is sanitizing its office. "Kojima Productions will continue working closely with our public health authorities and enact additional precautions as necessary to prevent further spread in any way possible," the developer said.

Kojima Productions joins a long list of other developers who have shifted to a work-from-home environment. The teams at EA, Rockstar, Bungie, and 343 Industries are all working from home for the foreseeable future as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

Kojima Productions is Hideo Kojima's new development studio. Death Stranding is the company's first game, and it launched in November 2019 for PlayStation 4. The game expands to PC in June. There was a rumor that Kojima might be working on a Silent Hills game but that probably won't happen.