If you’ve spent any time around Hideo Kojima’s work, you know he’s obsessed with hiding tiny, intentional nods to his past projects in every new release. Death Stranding 2 is no exception, and ever since the first gameplay and trailer drops, fans have been scouring every frame for fun callbacks to his most famous franchise. If you’re a long time Metal Gear fan, you’ve probably already caught a few, but there are tons of subtle death stranding 2 metal gear reference moments that casual players completely miss. I’ve replayed every mainline Metal Gear game at least four times, and put 200+ hours into the original Death Stranding, so I’ve compiled every confirmed and rumored reference, plus context on what they mean for the upcoming sequel’s story.
Confirmed Death Stranding 2 Metal Gear Reference Moments You Might Have Missed
Kojima and his development team have already confirmed a handful of these references in post-trailer interviews, so these aren’t just overzealous fan theories. Most of them are tucked into background details or split-second shots, so you have to pause and rewatch trailers multiple times to catch them all. Some are purely for fun fan service, while others hint at deeper thematic connections between the two franchises. Here are the three most obvious confirmed nods so far:
- The classic Metal Gear codec UI that pops up during Sam’s first comms sequence in the 2023 Game Awards trailer. It has the same muted green text, scrolling character name bar, and even the soft, iconic alert beep tucked into the background audio so most viewers don’t notice it. Kojima directly called this out on his personal social media a day after the trailer dropped, saying it was a deliberate nod to long time fans.
- The FOX special forces unit patch sewn onto the shoulder of the new masked villain character shown in the 2024 State of Play gameplay preview. The patch matches the exact logo used by Naked Snake’s special ops unit in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the character’s gravelly voice even shares similar cadence to Snake’s voice actor David Hayter.
- The overly dramatic ladder climbing sequence during the mountain traversal gameplay clip. If you’ve played any 3D Metal Gear game, you know the running joke of 10+ second ladder climbs with dramatic camera angles and swelling music, and this clip is a near shot-for-shot recreation of the iconic ladder scene from Metal Gear Solid 3. The dev team even kept the weird, heavy breathing sound effect that plays while characters climb.
None of these references have any direct impact on gameplay that we know of so far, but they’re a fun way to reward fans who’ve stuck with Kojima through his entire career. You don’t need to recognize any of them to enjoy Death Stranding 2, of course, but they add an extra layer of charm for people who grew up playing Metal Gear games. Some fans initially thought the FOX patch was a hint that the masked character is a Snake variant, but Kojima has since shot that theory down, saying it’s just a fun easter egg for now.
What These References Say About Death Stranding 2’s Story Themes
It’s easy to write all these Metal Gear nods off as simple fan service, but they actually tie into the core themes that run through all of Kojima’s work. Metal Gear has always focused on the cost of war, the importance of human connection across enemy lines, and the way systems force ordinary people to act against their best interests. Death Stranding explores all those same ideas, just through the lens of a post-apocalyptic delivery journey instead of a military spy thriller. Even a tiny death stranding 2 metal gear reference can signal that a specific character or plot point is tied to the anti-war themes that defined the Metal Gear franchise, even if it’s not a direct timeline connection.
The shared Kojima multiverse that he’s teased for years is less a direct, connected timeline and more a way to carry those consistent themes across all his projects. That means you don’t have to worry about needing to play 10 Metal Gear games to understand Death Stranding 2’s plot. Kojima has repeatedly said he wants the sequel to be accessible to new players who only got into his work after the first Death Stranding came out. The references are just a bonus, not required reading.
Some fans have theorized that the Death Stranding event is a direct result of the end of Metal Gear Solid 4’s timeline, when the global war economy collapsed, but there’s no hard evidence to support that right now. The core thematic throughlines are the real connection, not the timeline. Both franchises center on characters who are forced to take on impossible, thankless tasks to keep the world connected, and the Metal Gear references are just a fun way to highlight that parallel. For example, Sam’s role as a porter is not that different from Snake’s role as a soldier, both are just people following orders to complete a mission that will help people they’ll never meet.
Rumored Metal Gear References Fans Are Still Debating
Beyond the confirmed references, there are dozens of unconfirmed nods that fans are arguing about across Reddit, Twitter, and gaming forums. Some of these are almost certainly intentional, while others are probably just fans seeing patterns where there aren’t any. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, but it’s important to take all these unconfirmed fan theories with a grain of salt until Kojima or the dev team confirms them.
One of the most popular rumored references is the masked villain’s bionic arm, which looks almost identical to Venom Snake’s prosthetic arm from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The arm has the same segmented design, glowing knuckle accents, and even a similar grapple function that we saw in the gameplay preview. Kojima hasn’t commented on this yet, but the design is so similar that it’s hard to believe it’s a coincidence. Another rumored nod is the stray wolf dog that follows Sam in one of the trailer clips, which fans say looks exactly like D-Dog from MGSV, right down to the pointed ears and scruffy coat.
Some fans have also pointed out that the cardboard box Sam uses to hide from BTs in one gameplay clip is a nod to the iconic Metal Gear cardboard box, which has been a staple of the franchise since the first 8-bit game. That one’s a little less clear, since cardboard boxes are a pretty common item in post-apocalyptic games, but given Kojima’s history, it’s not out of the question. There’s also a line where Sam says “I’m just here to deliver packages” that fans say mirrors Snake’s classic line “I’m just a soldier”, but that’s a pretty generic line so it’s hard to confirm either way.
How to Catch More Metal Gear References as New DS2 Content Drops
We’re still months away from the full game launch, and Kojima is guaranteed to keep dropping new trailers and gameplay clips between now and then. If you want to catch all the hidden Metal Gear references as they’re revealed, there are a few simple tips you can follow that will make it way easier. You don’t have to be a diehard Metal Gear expert to spot them, either, just a little attention to detail goes a long way.
First, pay extra attention to background sound effects, not just what’s happening on screen. Kojima loves hiding tiny sound cues like codec beeps, alert tones, and even snippets of old Metal Gear soundtracks in the background of trailers, where most people won’t notice them. If you can, watch new trailers with headphones turned up, and you’ll catch way more subtle nods. Second, pause on wide shots and background details, like patches on character jackets, logos on shipping containers, and random items lying around the game world. Most of the confirmed references so far were found by fans pausing trailers and zooming in on tiny background details.
Third, if you’ve never played the Metal Gear games, watching a quick recap video of the most iconic gags and tropes will help you spot references you’d otherwise miss. You don’t have to play all 10+ games, just knowing the basics like the cardboard box, codec, ladder gags, and FOX unit logo will let you catch 90% of the nods. Don’t get too caught up in hunting for references that you forget to enjoy the new content, though. At the end of the day, they’re just fun bonuses, not required viewing.
Whether you’re a lifelong Metal Gear fan who still has their original PS1 copy of Metal Gear Solid, or you’re a new player who only picked up the first Death Stranding during the pandemic, these little nods are part of what makes Kojima’s games feel so personal and special. Hunting for the death stranding 2 metal gear reference easter eggs is a fun way to pass the time while we wait for the full game launch, and it’s cool to see how Kojima ties decades of his work together with these small, intentional details. We’ll keep updating this post as more references are confirmed, so check back every time a new trailer drops to see what we’ve found.
