'Death Stranding' release date: Hideo Kojima hints 2018 release, female lead and co-op gameplay

Hideo Kojima has dropped some major details about the highly anticipated video game "Death Stranding" at the Tokyo Game Show over the weekend.

The Japanese video game designer hinted the possibility of a 2018 release for the upcoming title during a Q&A session at the event on Sept. 18, Sunday.

"It will be out before the Olympics," told the fans, making a reference to the Tokyo Olympics, according to IGN. "To go a little further, there is a movie called Akira, and it will be out before the year in which Akira is set," he added.

As we all know, the Tokyo Olympics will be held in 2020 and "Akira" is an anime film that is slated for a 2019 release, therefore Kojima's statement about "Death Stranding" being released in the year before "Akira" implies that the game will be out in 2018.

Kojima shared the stage with Yoji Shinkawa, the character and mechanical designer at Kojima Productions whose credits include the "Metal Gear" series.

Kojima also noted that the game's online mode will feature a "different kind of online play than anything we've seen before."

The open-world action game, which will also be playable in single-player, will include a co-op gameplay mode that fosters a bond among players, as Kojima recently pointed out, according to Kotaku.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Kojima also revealed that "Death Stranding" will feature a female protagonist alongside "The Walking Dead" actor Norman Reedus.

"Death Stranding" is Kojima's first video game title following his exit from Konami months after the cancellation of "Silent Hills." The now-dead title of the survival horror franchise was supposed to be a collaboration between Kojima and famous director Guillermo del Toro with Reedus starring as the main protagonist.

In addition to Reedus, there is speculation that "Death Stranding" will also feature Mads Mikkelsen and Kevin Durand, stemming from Kojima's on-set teaser photos.

Watch the game's E3 trailer below: