While officially titled Death Stranding Director’s Cut, creator Hideo Kojima has addressed how the game would technically not be considered a Director’s Cut, which implies that the original work was somehow not the full vision of the director, and would have rather called it a “Director’s Plus” instead. Kojima doesn’t explicitly state why the name ended up the way it is but gave insight into his thoughts behind the naming convention.
The upcoming PS5 re-release of the 2019 title will include various additional features and graphical improvements to the base game. When Death Stranding Director’s Cut was announced, however, many fans were confused as to why it was named “Director’s Cut” when Kojima already had full creative control over the game. The new PS5 version doesn’t feature content that was “cut” from the original game’s release, but rather elements that were built on and added following the original launch of Death Stranding. The similarly-named Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is taking a different approach, using the opportunity to add a separate expansion island to the game.
Kojima tweeted why he doesn’t like the term “Director’s Cut” for Death Stranding in particular, which he says insinuates that content was cut from the original release.
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In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector’s Plus? So, in my opinion, I don’t like to call “director’s cut”.— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 12, 2021
To this, Kojima outlined what he defines a Director’s Cut to be, at least in the framework of movies:
A director’s cut in a movie is an additional edit to a shortened version that was either released reluctantly because the director did not have the right to edit it, or because the running time had to be shortened. In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector’s [sic] Plus? So, in my opinion, I don’t like to call “director’s cut”.
Kojima essentially confirms that none of the content included in the Director’s Cut was cut from the base game and is an entirely separate addition. The above quote also implies that Kojima did not choose the name for the Director’s Cut, or that Sony decided the name against Kojima’s wishes, though it seems to be a new naming convention that Sony is using for its expanded PS5 releases of last-gen games, regardless of what it actually implies or its usage across titles.
The fact that the Ghost of Tsushima is also following this naming convention could indicate that the decision was pushed by Sony. In any case, the distinction was important enough for Kojima to address it on Twitter. Rest assured that the original Death Stranding wasn’t an edited down version of what Kojima originally wanted, and this new content is entirely additive rather than filling in any missing pieces.
