There were plenty of hints along the way, and even some leaks by the leading man himself, but it was only made official at the Game Awards 2022 that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is an upcoming PS5 game. Coming from the same influential and creative mind as the original, as well as the Metal Gear franchise before it, Hideo Kojima introduced the game himself. Of course, nothing about Kojima’s games are straight forward, and what was revealed about Death Stranding 2 probably raised more questions than it answered. This game will be going head to head with Metal Gear Solid Delta and Ghost of Yotei this year, so competition is high. We’re strapping on our boots, connecting to our BBs, and are ready to make the trek to find out everything there is about Death Stranding 2.
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Release date
Death Stranding 2 will release on June 26, 2025 on PS5, but can be played as early as June 24 if you purchase an edition with early access.
Platforms
The only platform Death Stranding 2 is currently confirmed for is the PS5. This makes sense as the first game was a PlayStation console exclusive at launch, later getting a PC port in 2020 and even coming to PC Game Pass. While it is possible for Death Stranding 2 to come to PC, and even PC Game Pass, like the first, Sony does own the IP, so don’t expect it to come to any competitor’s consoles.
Trailers
We got our first long look at Death Stranding 2 with the debut trailer from 2022’s Game Awards.
While the trailer has no gameplay, there are a lot of story and character details shown. We see Fragile and a baby (possibly Lou?) playing in a room with screens projecting the outside world. Fragile looks younger here than in the original, which could imply this is a flashback. Something appears to be going wrong, and she attempts to escape from unseen pursuers in an elevator. After getting shot and crashing, she appears to pass out, leaving the baby’s fate unknown.
We see Sam next, who has visibly aged, approaching Fragile. A massive floating structure with the Drawbridge logo rises from the oil, which she wants him to accompany her on.
The trailer ends with a mysterious masked figure about to reveal their face, but we cut before it is shown.
This newest look that came at Sony’s February 2024 State of Play gave us a lot more context for the game, such as Sam now working for a group called Drawbridge, once again attempting to make connections across the country. We also learn for certain that the masked man is Higgs, who has somehow returned from the Beach for revenge on Sam, and is rocking a guitar weapon that shoots lasers in a very Kojima-style display.
It is almost always impossible to determine a Kojima game’s story prior to playing it (and even afterward it’s still a challenge), but we do know that he rewrote the script entirely after the pandemic. During The Game Awards 2022, Kojima said “I had the story written before the pandemic. But after experiencing the pandemic, I just rewrote the whole story from scratch. I also didn’t want to predict any more futures, so I rewrote it.”
Death Stranding 2 had a large presence at TGS 2024, including an over 22 minute trailer that shows off a ton of the new cast and characters. It is as odd as you expect, with songs, Heartman doing some odd research that involves collecting his tears, and a black winged cat just to name a few. It’s hard to tell if anything here is a spoiler, so check out the whole thing at your own risk. Odds are, even if there are spoilers here, we won’t know it until after beating the game.
Kojima brought the preorder trailer to SXSW in 2025 with another 10 minutes of mysterious and enlightening footage. Besides the known characters, Alastair Duncan is introduced as the new president, Lucy, played by Alissa Jung, and the most prominent character in the trailer, Neil, played by Luca Marinelli. Neil appears in shots almost identical to the one we saw Cliff take in the first game, perhaps implying an adversarial relationship with Sam.
Gameplay
The gameplay we’ve seen appears to be an evolution of what was established in the first game. There will be lots of walking, climbing, and managing weight once again in a much wider range of environments. We also see a little combat against new robotic enemies, though not a clear look as to how they will fight back differently than humans in the last game.
Sam will once again have access to floating carrying platforms, vehicles, and firearms, but now also throwable spears and possibly even automated tram systems. Robotic samurai, drones, and new and horrific BTs will keep you on your toes during deliveries.
Kojima showed off a very impressive photomode where characters will strike different poses and interact as you take pics. These appear as polaroids that look frighteningly real. It was heavily implied that players should take pictures like this often during the game as it may somehow influence the story.
Preorder
You can reserve your copy of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach right now! There are three different options for you to pick from on the PlayStation store, so let’s walk you through each of them.
Digital Standard Edition – $70
- Death Stranding 2 base game
- Quokka Hologram
- Battle Skeleton: Silver (LV1, LV2, LV3)
- Boost Skeleton: Silver (LV1, LV2, LV3)
- Bokka Skeleton: Silver (LV1, LV2, LV3)
Digital Deluxe Edition – $80
- Everything in the Standard Edition
- 48-hour Early Access to the game
- In-game items:
- Machine Gun (MP Bullets) LV1 early unlock
- Battle Skeleton: Gold (LV1, LV2, LV3)
- Boost Skeleton: Gold (LV1, LV2, LV3)
- Bokka Skeleton: Gold (LV1, LV2, LV3)
- Quokka Patch
- Chiral Feline Patch
- Why Me? Patch
Collector’s Edition – $230 (Physical only)
- Everything from the previous editions
- 15″ Magellan Man statue
- Art cards
- 3″ Dollman figurine
- Machine gun (MP bullets) early unlock
- Collector’s Box
- Letter from Hideo Kojima
