December 16, 2025.
To commemorate the studio’s 10th anniversary, a new visual of “LUDENS” the symbol of KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS was unveiled.
In our discussion, Yoji Shinkawa expresses his views about the new visual of LUDENS, and the studio that commemorated its 10th anniversary. (Further insights into how LUDENS was created are also available. Check out our other feature: “EXPLORING LUDENS”).
Story Behind the 10th anniversary LUDENS...and the Horse
So the 10th anniversary LUDENS has been unveiled, how did you initially approach this?
I was originally thinking of a more hulking update based on the request from Mr. Kojima. I originally imagined adding massive spaceship-scaled parts. However, since I wanted to focus on the “10th anniversary” part, I decided instead to create an antenna that forms an X-shape when viewed from the front. “X” is the roman numeral for 10, marking our 10th anniversary.
There was a lot of buzz among fans about it, with many pointing out, “It has an Odradek on its head!”
It did end up looking a bit like an Odradek, but in a way, that actually gave it more of a KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS feel, settling on a nice balance. I ended up exploring several different concepts, with a European sculpture-inspired design, was also among the candidates. After discussing this with Mr. Kojima, we ultimately decided on the more mechanical look you see now. But it doesn’t quite look like an “X”, so I’ve written it right onto the antenna. If you look closely, you will see that it says “10th anniversary”. For the cape, we imagined it as something to be worn at a ceremony celebrating the studio’s 10th anniversary.
This time we have the cape and antenna, and back with the 5th anniversary, there were large booster parts. Was LUDENS intended to be expandable?
No, that wasn’t my intention (laughs). When I first designed LUDENS as the studio’s symbolic character, I didn’t imagine things that far into the future. Though, I hope people can also enjoy the process of how LUDENS continues to develop as various new ideas are brought in as part of it.
Speaking of expandability, in this year’s New Year’s card illustration, there was a horse-like character that resembled LUDENS. Was that also intended as one of the expanded parts?
Since 2026 is the Year of the Horse, we felt it was a good opportunity to explore a horse motif. Originally, the idea was for it to combine and transform into “UMADENS”. *
[* Portmanteau of uma (horse in Japanese) and LUDENS.]
UMADENS?!
Yes. We first thought about a centaur-style design, but that would have made it into something you could only use in the Year of the Horse. Since we already had our 10th anniversary version LUDENS, we decided to focus on that and keep the horse and LUDENS separate.
We even had a test model made by Ms. Entei.
Have you already started thinking about any upgrades that you would like to add to LUDENS in the future?
Who knows? (Laughs) I did have color variants prepared from the start, but I ended up adding many changes to the standard LUDENS. It might be interesting to explore a wide range of versions instead rather than adding more elements.
A wide range?
If we consider the current LUDENS as the standard version, we could come up with different types with varying equipment and armor—like a lightweight version, one equipped with a powered suit, or even versions with large, bulky parts attached. Next year is the Year of the Sheep, so the armor might be replaced with fluffy fur (laughs).
In an interview from five years ago, you mentioned that you wanted to see more LUDENS merchandise, and we did see many new items released.
Our most recent example was the ROG collaboration laptop. That project was an attempt at basing it off the idea of “What if we design something that exists in the world of LUDENS.” The wristwatch is similar in concept, but instead of “items in LUDENS’ world,” it would be great to someday see “items that are worn by LUDENS.” Maybe even have LUDENS fashion worn from top to bottom, holding a ROG laptop in hand.
A “Running” Encounter & Thoughts Behind a Decade
Last year, you had the 10th anniversary as well as a world tour celebrating the launch of DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH. How was it interacting with your fans?
It was a whirlwind of a schedule, so my memories are a bit fuzzy. How many cities did I visit, I wonder?
Of the twelve locations, you went to seven, mostly in Asia.
Right, I was mostly visiting cities in Asia. Events in the Asia region always felt like we were very close to our fans. They all had a great atmosphere and was a lot of fun.
Were there any standouts during your interactions with fans?
Oh yes! (Laughs) It was at an event taking place in the castle city of Lucca (Lucca Comics & Games), which was the final location of the tour. There I met this young man with incredible endurance and speed.
Really?
So we got into a blacked-out van to head out to a restaurant. The windows were tinted as well and I doubt I was seen getting in. But there was this one boy who came running after the car. The car was picking up speed after reaching a fairly empty road and we turned a corner, so I thought, “That was quite fast. Surely he must have been left behind now.” But when I looked behind us, he was still there! (Laughs) It felt like he was with us for more than 10 minutes.
That’s incredible stamina. He may not have known who was in the car, and ran after it on the off chance that it might be you?
When we parked, that boy was there, so I waved to him and told him that I’ll give an autograph. Thankfully he turned out to be a fan of mine (laughs). Lorenzo, you were truly memorable. And thank you. But try not to do anything too crazy—it’s dangerous!
One last question: How do you feel reaching the 10-year mark, and do you have any messages for your fans?
Oddly enough, I never felt like I needed to worry in the past ten years. It’s thanks to all the messages of support we’ve received since we started this studio, from so many of our fans all over the world. I believe that as long as we have our fans, we can continue working on making video games. So thank you.
As for our 10th anniversary... it doesn’t feel like it’s been ten years, because there wasn’t much to remember about the years surrounding the COVID pandemic (laughs). But I do know that continuing to do something for a decade isn’t easy, sometimes I’m just surprised we’ve managed to walk this path for so long.
Do you think you can go on for another five or ten years without feeling like you need to worry?
Well, maybe a little worried, because my lower and upper back have been aching lately. Must be because of carrying the weight of a decade (laughs). Maybe I’ll go and borrow LUDENS’ suit and exoskeletal frame.
From Sapiens to Ludens.
Somewhere far from Earth.
A place yet to be explored by mankind.
Standing there, looking out into the distance.
The outer shell, which is an armored spacesuit, embodies the evolution of life on Earth.
Driven by infinite curiosity to explore time and space, it has journeyed wherever it desired.
What it holds in its hand is not a spear to conquer, but a flag to mark its arrival.
We want to create the unimaginable and expand the world through play.
"It" was born from this concept, and "it" evolves still.
We are those who play. We are Homo Ludens.
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