Following years of weird and wonderful teasers, the game was released on PS4 on 8 November 2019 – and fans loved it. But what about those on PC? The good news is that Kojima has since confirmed that Death Stranding is coming to PC, and gamers don’t have long to wait either.
Read on to find out everything you need to know about Death Stranding, including the long-awaited PC release date.
What you need to know about Death Stranding:
Release date: 8 November 2019 (PS4) / 14 July 2020 (PC)Publisher: Kojima ProductionsGenre: Action/AdventureDevelopers: Sony Interactive EntertainmentPlatform: PlayStation 4, PC (in 2020)
When is Death Stranding being released on PC?
Death Stranding PS4 release date: 8 November 2019
Death Stranding PC release date: 14 July 2020
Those on PC have to wait a little longer, with Kojima Productions confirming a 14 July 2020 release across Steam and the Epic Games Store in the form of a flashy new trailer which also teases PC-exclusive cosmetics including Steam valve and headcrab headgear. The PC port was originally set for June, but was delayed in the wake of the studio closing temporarily due to the coronavirus outbreak.
What can I expect from Death Stranding?
Hideo Kojima then sat down with Digital Spy and shed some light on the game, and the behind-the-scenes action. “It will be an action game if you really want to put a genre on it” Kojima explained, but it won’t be your typical action game – coming from the man behind Metal Gear Solid, we’re not surprised.
“For example, when I made Metal Gear, it was an action game but it was different because the main thing was about hiding. People eventually ended up calling that ‘stealth action’. In this game, the player will be controlling Norman but by playing it they will find something different, something that won’t fit in established terms.”
The Game Awards 2017 brought with them the third trailer (below) for the game, but it was no less cryptic than the two that came before it. Reedus’ character is seen serving as part of a team that gets attacked by… something or some things.
There’s a lot of talk about explosions, some invisible monsters, a giant, gravity getting reversed and a fetus giving a thumbs up.
We got our first glimpse of actual gameplay at E3 2018, though the premise of the game still seemed as confusing as ever. We were also introduced to new celebrity characters and given a quick look at the stunning and varied open world that the game is set in. We saw Sam, the main character, roaming the unnaturally empty, open world through rivers, thick grass, up mountains and on beaches, carrying a varied amount of equipment (that, in true Kojima fashion, wasn’t explained).
It sounds weird but it oddly makes a little bit more sense when you watch the eight-minute trailer. You can see that below:
At Gamescom 2019, just mere months away from the game’s release date, we saw our first extended look at the gameplay of Death Stranding. Skip to 13:55 to see it within the presentation below:
Within the presentation, we also saw a trailer that gives us a closer look at the character, Mama (voiced by Margaret Qualley and based on her likeness), as well as a second trailer that explains the concept of the ‘Bridge Baby’ for the first time. Skip to 3:50 and 8:00 respectively for those.
Finally, the launch trailer came just a week before the game’s PS4 release and gives more cryptic hints at the weird and hopefully wonderful story:
But what about the name of the game? Kojima offered a bit of an explanation for that, too. “A strand in psychology is often used to refer to ties or chains,” he explained. “So how all the crabs [in the trailer] have this weird umbilical cord and how the baby is tied to Norman [Reedus’ character] is a representation of this.”
In reference to the Gamescom trailer and what the game is about Kojima told Wired:
“You can see the crabs, the whales, all things, they all have these umbilical cables. Norman, as he stands up. It’s a very important part, this connection. That’s the keyword. What people are playing today in open-world action games, or linear action games, it will compare naturally to them. It will feel familiar.”
“But after an hour or two of playing, you will start to feel something different, something new that you haven’t played. The story is about connections, what you call “strands” in psychology – how people are connected.”
He also added that you see a lot of games with items relating to the stick, the first tool humanity invented, such as guns and the like. However, in Death Stranding, it will be more about rope.
“There will be the equivalent of sticks. But also, I want to tie people together with the equivalent of ropes,” explains Kojima.
Kojima went back to that stick and rope analogy in an interview with Glixel. “Games are still primarily players with sticks fighting each other,” he said. “They cannot break the curse of using sticks to keep evil away, or defeating enemies. I want to change this.”
“It’s time for humankind to take the rope in hand. We are ready for a game not based on competition, but on the rope that will bring good to the player and make connections. We don’t need a game about dividing players between winners and losers, but about creating connections at a different level. My current project, Death Stranding, aims to fulfil this goal.”
So, yeah. That doesn’t really clear much up.
Whatever Death Stranding is, we’re really excited about the future of this game, and we’ll be keeping our eyes open for more gameplay details as they appear.
Lewis Painter is a Senior Staff Writer at Tech Advisor. Our resident Apple expert, Lewis covers everything from iPhone to AirPods, plus a range of smartphones, tablets, laptops and gaming hardware. You’ll also find him on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
