Death Stranding

Kojima's first post-Metal Gear game hit StreamerHouse in 2019 for 382 peak viewers, right as the internet tore itself apart over whether it was genius or a walking simulator. Death Stranding earned an 83 on Metacritic with scores ranging from perfect 10s to brutal 6s—exactly the divisive reception Kojima predicted, saying it would be "zero points or 10 points." The controversy went deeper than gameplay: Kojima's buddy Geoff Keighley appeared in the game and also produced The Game Awards where Death Stranding got nine nominations, raising eyebrows about conflicts of interest. Then Kojima claimed Americans didn't "understand" it because they prefer shooters, which didn't match the fact that plenty of US critics loved it. Metacritic removed 6,000+ negative user reviews for review bombing. Despite the drama, it sold 5 million copies by March 2021 and won more GOTY awards than any 2019 game. StreamerHouse playing it demonstrated that even polarizing art finds its audience.