5 Years Later, Xbox Quietly Added One of PlayStation's Most Bizarre Exclusives
Walk a lonely road.
PlayStation players were the first to reap the benefits of Hideo Kojima’s high-profile breakup with Metal Gear publisher Konami. In 2019, Sony Interactive published Kojima’s first independent title Death Stranding, a star-studded and deeply unique adventure game about reconnecting America after an inconceivable apocalypse. Its bizarre story and divisive gameplay made it one of PlayStation’s most distinct exclusives.
Now, five years to the day Death Stranding was first released, Xbox players will get to experience Kojima’s otherworldly game for the first time. In a surprise announcement Thursday, Kojima Productions announced Death Stranding is now available on Xbox Series consoles. While the game was released on PC a few years after it first launched, the Xbox launch marks the game’s debut on a console outside of PlayStation’s ecosystem. The game is also available on Amazon’s cloud streaming service Luna.
The out-of-nowhere release coincides with Kojima’s announcement that the Death Stranding franchise now officially belongs to his game studio, according to Japanese outlet Automaton.
“We're finally excited to bring Death Stranding to Xbox users,” Kojima said. “Thank you to all the fans who have kept us connected and to all the Xbox users who have been waiting.”
Death Stranding is a game unlike anything else. Players assume the role of Sam Porter Bridges (played by actor Norman Reedus), a delivery man in a future where humanity is on the brink of extinction due and inexplicable and destructive phenomenon known as the Death Stranding. It is Sam’s job to reconnect the disparate surviving communities of the United States by bringing wireless communications back online. In order to do so however, Sam must risk his life navigating this barren and hazardous landscape.
As pejorative as the term “walking simulator” has become in the medium today, no other game quite matches that description quite like Death Stranding. While there are combat sections where players can use firearms and fisticuffs, the vast majority of the game is spent navigating the varied terrain of post-apocalyptic America to deliver goods to people in need. Players use ladders, vehicles, and future tech to scale grand mountains, wade through rivers, and trudge through snow. Players must also overcome the supernatural effects of the Death Stranding.
Death Stranding is a game that needs to be played to truly appreciate its complex mechanics.
It’s a game that must be played to be truly understood. Watching a playthrough on Twitch or YouTube, it can easily come across as a simplistic and boring experience. Actually engaging with its mechanics is another ballgame entirely. Measuring what terrain is walkable, managing the deliverables on Sam’s person, and carefully deciding what equipment is worth bringing on your continental hike, is engaging in a way video can’t do justice. It’s a solid recommendation that oftentimes mirrors our real world.
To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the game is currently 50 percent off on all consoles, including Xbox. At just $20, Death Stranding is a total steal so long as players know that the game is a pretty big departure from Kojima’s previous, more consistently action-focused work.
With Death Stranding officially coming to Xbox, it does bring into question the fate of its 2025 sequel. As of now, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach has only been announced for PlayStation 5. But unless Sony’s clamped down On The Beach for a more iron-clad exclusivity deal than its predecessor, this surprise release suggests players will see the anticipated sequel on Xbox consoles sooner than later.
Death Stranding coming to Xbox suggests its 2025 sequel with also be multiplatform at some point.
Over the last year, Kojima’s been cozying up with Xbox quite nicely. At last year’s Game Awards, Kojima announced that he’s working on a new title called OD. The game is co-written by Kojima and Academy Award-winning director Jordan Peele. The game will be published by Xbox Game Studios and will star Sohia Lillis, Udo Kier, and Hunter Schafer. In January, Kojima also announced that he’s working on an entirely new action espionage game that will be published by PlayStation.
It’s a great time to jump into Death Stranding. Last December, Kojima announced a that movie studio A24 will help bring the franchise to the big screen. Kojima is currently attached to direct, marking the prolific game designer’s film debut.
