Following the reveal of several abandoned video game concepts—including a "Forgetting Game" where the protagonist loses crucial memories and skills if players take extended breaks—Hideo Kojima has now shared that he's prepared a USB drive filled with game ideas for his team to explore after his passing.

As reported by VGC, Kojima made this sobering disclosure in an interview with Edge magazine, reflecting on how the pandemic reshaped his perspective. "Turning 60 wasn’t as transformative as my experiences during COVID," he admitted. "I became seriously ill and underwent eye surgery. Before that, I never felt my age—I assumed I’d keep creating indefinitely."

But illness forced a reckoning. "When I couldn’t work, and saw others passing away, mortality became real," he continued. "After recovering, I had to ask: How many years do I have left to make games or films? Maybe ten?"

This existential shift led Kojima to both accelerate new projects and create what he calls a "digital will"—a USB drive handed to his assistant. "It secures Kojima Productions’ future," he explained. "My fear is the studio merely maintaining existing IP after I’m gone."

Recently, IGN covered Kojima’s fascination with real-time mechanics in games. Beyond discussing temporal elements in past titles like Metal Gear Solid 3, he disclosed unused concepts—including a scrapped beard-growth system for Death Stranding 2. "Sam’s beard would grow unless shaved," he revealed on his KOJI10 podcast. "But Norman Reedus’ star image made me reconsider—though I might revisit the idea later."

Kojima outlined three experimental time-based game ideas: First, a lifelong journey where characters physically and mentally age, altering gameplay strategy. "You’d weaken at 70 but gain wisdom—though players might reject it," he joked, despite podcast enthusiasm for this "quintessential Kojima" concept.

Second, a crafting simulation requiring real-world patience, like aging wine or cheese—effectively an idle-game hybrid. Finally, his provocative "Forgetting Game," where prolonged inactivity erases protagonist skills. "Skip a week, and they’d forget how to shoot or even their purpose," he said, laughing. "You’d need to take vacation to finish it!"

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Currently, Kojima Productions is juggling multiple projects: Death Stranding 2, an A24-produced live-action adaptation (from the Everything Everywhere All At Once studio), Xbox’s OD, and Sony’s game-film hybrid Physint—though ongoing actor strikes have delayed updates on the latter two.