Death Stranding is a 2019 action-adventure game created by Kojima Productions and released by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is the first game made by director Hideo Kojima and his company after they separated from Konami in 2015. The game was first available on PlayStation 4 in November 2019, then on Windows computers in July 2020. A special edition was released for PlayStation 5 in September 2021, followed by versions for Windows in March 2022, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS in January 2024, and Amazon Luna and Xbox Series X/S in November 2024. Sony published the game on their consoles, while 505 Games published other versions under a license from Kojima Productions.
The game takes place in the United States after a major disaster that caused dangerous creatures to appear on Earth. The player controls Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus), a courier who delivers supplies to isolated communities and helps connect them using a wireless communication system. However, he is chased by a violent militia group led by a mysterious masked man named Higgs, who wants to destroy the remaining human population. The game also includes actors such as Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, Troy Baker, Tommie Earl Jenkins, and Lindsay Wagner, as well as the likenesses of film directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn, as supporting characters.
Death Stranding received mostly positive reviews from critics. Many praised the voice acting, music, and graphics, though some had different opinions about the gameplay and story. The game was nominated for many awards and won the most "Game of the Year" awards in 2019. By March 2021, the game had sold 5 million copies worldwide. Some commentators later noted that parts of the game reminded them of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began shortly after the game was first released.
A sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, was released on June 26, 2025, for PlayStation 5. Two movie adaptations and a television series are currently being made.
Gameplay
Death Stranding is an action-adventure game set in an open world and includes features that let players interact without being online at the same time. Kojima, the game’s creator, calls Death Stranding the first "strand game," a new type of game that includes social elements. Kojima compared this genre to how his earlier game Metal Gear—now known as a stealth game—was once called an action game because the stealth genre had not yet been defined.
In the game, the player controls Sam Bridges, a worker for a company named BRIDGES. Sam’s task is to deliver supplies to isolated cities called KNOTs, as well as to researchers and survivalists. He also connects these locations to a communication system called the Chiral Network. Sam’s performance is evaluated by the company and others based on factors such as whether the cargo is delivered and if it remains undamaged. These results, similar to "likes" on social networks, help Sam improve his abilities, such as stability and weight capacity, and increase his standing with specific locations and characters. How the player packs the cargo and the total weight Sam carries affect his ability to move through the game’s environments.
The game uses music from bands like Silent Poets and Low Roar to enhance key moments and areas. Kojima said the music matches the game’s setting, which is both harsh and beautiful. He also noted a connection between Low Roar’s sound and the game’s themes. After the death of Low Roar’s lead singer, Ryan Karazija, in 2022, Kojima stated, "Without [Low Roar], Death Stranding would not have been born."
Sam’s main enemies include strange creatures called "beached things" (BTs), rogue porters known as MULEs who steal cargo, and MULEs who kill porters to take their cargo, called Demens. BTs are surrounded by a type of rain called "timefall," which damages armor and cargo by speeding up their decay. BTs are invisible, but Sam’s suit has a robotic sensor called an "odradek" that helps locate them. The player can then scan the area to reveal BTs.
As a "repatriate," Sam can return to an underwater world called the "Seam" if he is killed. There, he can "swim" back to his body to revive himself. However, if Sam is killed by a BT, it causes a destructive explosion called a "voidout," which creates a permanent, untraversable crater at the location of his death.
As the player expands the Chiral Network, they can access maps and use blueprints to create items and structures with a device called the Portable Chiral Constructor (PCC), which works like a 3D printer. These items include ropes, bridges, and power generators used to charge equipment. The Chiral Network also supports online features, allowing players to leave supplies, structures, and messages for others. However, these structures will eventually be destroyed by timefall. Players can also recover lost cargo left by others to complete their deliveries. Other players are not directly visible in the game world.
Synopsis
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic United States, where a major disaster called the "Death Stranding" caused invisible creatures known as "Beached Things" (BTs) to appear. These creatures come from a place called the "Beach," which is believed to be a personal space people visit during near-death experiences and is connected to the afterlife. BTs are created when people die through a process called necrosis. If a BT consumes a living human, it causes a powerful explosion called a "voidout," similar to a nuclear bomb. BTs also create a type of rain called "Timefall," which quickly ages and damages anything it touches. These events destroyed much of the country's infrastructure, forcing the remaining people to live in remote areas called "Knot Cities," which together form the "United Cities of America" (UCA).
These cities depend on a company called BRIDGES, which sends workers, known as "porters," to deliver supplies despite dangers like BTs, bandits, and terrorists. BRIDGES also helps the UCA with government tasks. If a person connects mentally with a "Bridge Baby" (BB)—a premature child who exists in a state between life and death—they may be able to sense BTs. Porters carry a BB in a special pod that mimics the womb of a "stillmother." Some people have a condition called "DOOMS," which allows them to sense, see, or even control BTs, as well as gain abilities like teleportation or visiting others' Beaches. There are also people called "repatriates" who can return from "the Seam," a space between the living world and the Beach, after death. However, if a repatriate is killed by a BT, it still causes a voidout.
Freelance courier Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus) is delivering supplies to Central Knot City but is interrupted by Timefall and takes shelter. He is helped by Fragile (Léa Seydoux) to escape a BT. When Sam arrives at his destination, he finds a citizen who died by suicide, and their body is beginning to decay. Because Sam is a repatriate and has DOOMS, he is assigned to help dispose of the body. However, an encounter with BTs causes a voidout that destroys Central Knot City.
Sam wakes up in Capital Knot City and meets Deadman (Guillermo del Toro/Jesse Corti), a BRIDGES doctor who gives Sam a task: deliver morphine to the dying President of the UCA, Bridget Strand (Lindsay Wagner/Emily O'Brien), who is also Sam's adoptive mother. Bridget asks Sam to rejoin BRIDGES and help her "reform America" before her death. Sam takes her body for incineration but refuses to destroy a Bridge Baby involved in the Central Knot City disaster. With the BB's help, Sam escapes a group of BTs and decides to care for the baby, naming it "Lou."
Back in Capital Knot City, Sam receives a message from his estranged sister, Amelie Strand (also played by Wagner/O'Brien). She explains that over three years, she traveled across the United States, connecting isolated cities to the "Chiral Network," a system that allows instant communication and data transfer through the Beach. When she reached Edge Knot City on the West Coast, she was captured by a terrorist group called Homo Demens, who want the city to remain independent. Amelie asks Sam to complete her work and "reform America" by finishing the Chiral Network. She also says that if Sam reaches Edge Knot City, he can rescue her and she can become the new UCA president. Sam agrees to the mission.
Following instructions from Die-Hardman (Tommie Earl Jenkins), Bridget's aide and BRIDGES director, Sam begins his journey from the east to the west coast. Along the way, he delivers supplies, works with BRIDGES researchers like Mama and Lockne (Margaret Qualley), Heartman (Nicolas Winding Refn/Darren Jacobs), and stops terrorist plots led by Higgs Monaghan (Troy Baker). While connected to Lou, Sam experiences memories of Clifford Unger (Mads Mikkelsen) and his hospitalized wife and BB child. Sometimes, Sam is pulled into Clifford's Beach, where he fights a BT version of Clifford who is searching for his lost BB.
After reaching Edge Knot City, Sam defeats Higgs at Amelie's Beach. Higgs reveals that Amelie is an "Extinction Entity," a godlike being meant to trigger mass extinctions. Amelie is the real leader of Homo Demens and created the Chiral Network to cause the "Last Stranding," the end of life on Earth. It is revealed that Amelie and Bridget are the same person. Bridget's soul separated from her body during early experiments with the Beach and used the name "Amelie" as a disguise. Amelie is conflicted about her role, believing the Last Stranding is more humane than endless cycles of life and death.
With help from his allies, Sam convinces Amelie to delay the Last Stranding. She agrees but must separate herself and her Beach from the world forever. Sam is rescued by BRIDGES and returns to life. Die-Hardman becomes the new UCA president, and Fragile plans to rebuild her company. Sam learns that Lou is dying, but he follows Deadman's advice and removes Lou from its pod to save its life. This allows Sam to connect with Lou one last time and discover that the memories he saw were his own: he is Clifford Unger's son, who Bridget had turned into a BB, was accidentally killed during an escape, and was resurrected by Amelie. This event caused the Death Stranding, allowing BTs to cross over. The spirits of deceased BBs help save Lou's life, and Sam destroys his UCA cufflinks, choosing to live peacefully with BBs. In a post-credits scene, Sam reveals that the BB he raised is actually "Louise."
Development
In July 2015, Kojima Productions closed after a long disagreement with Konami. It re-formed as an independent video game studio in December 2015. That same month, Hideo Kojima announced a partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was led by Andrew House at the time. Together, they planned to create a new PlayStation game.
Kojima revealed the game during Sony’s E3 2016 conference with a teaser trailer. The trailer used music from Low Roar, which later appeared in the final game. It was made using special camera techniques and motion capture technology. The trailer featured Norman Reedus, who inspired the game’s main character. This was Kojima’s second project with Reedus, following the canceled game Silent Hills. In January 2016, Kojima and Mark Cerny, the lead system architect of the PlayStation 4, spent two weeks searching for a game engine to use. One engine was used to create the teaser trailer. Later, Guerrilla Games was announced as a collaborator because they provided their special game engine called Decima. Kojima Productions’ meeting room was recreated in the engine to help test lighting effects and ensure accuracy.
The game entered full development in 2017. A few days before E3 2017, Kojima said the game would not be shown during Sony’s usual conference. In June 2017, Shawn Layden, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, confirmed that Death Stranding was in a playable alpha version but could not easily classify it into a specific genre. A teaser was shown during The Game Awards 2017 in December, where Kojima, Reedus, and director Guillermo del Toro appeared. Kojima explained that the team could not complete performance capture or voice-over work for the third trailer in time for E3 2017 due to a video game voice actor strike in 2016–2017. The trailer was delayed until The Game Awards.
In February 2018, Emily O’Brien and Troy Baker joined the game’s cast. At the event, a new trailer was shown, revealing gameplay for the first time and introducing Léa Seydoux and Lindsay Wagner as cast members. On September 18, 2018, it was announced at Tokyo Game Show 2018 that Tommie Earl Jenkins would portray a key character. Akio Ōtsuka, Kikuko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, and Satoshi Mikami—veterans of the Metal Gear series—along with Kenjiro Tsuda, joined the Japanese voice cast. In March 2019, Hideo Kojima said Death Stranding was slightly behind its planned release schedule. He tested and adjusted the gameplay daily, calling that phase “critical.”
A trailer released in May 2019 introduced Margaret Qualley as “Mama” and Nicolas Winding Refn as “Heartman.” Character names included Cliff (Mikkelsen), Fragile (Seydoux), Deadman (del Toro), Die-Hardman (Jenkins), Higgs (Baker), and Amelie (Wagner). O’Brien, Jesse Corti, and Darren Jacobs were credited for voice work in the trailer. Del Toro and Refn received a “Special Appearance” credit, as only their likenesses were used, and their voice and motion capture were performed by other actors. The trailer also revealed the game’s release date: November 8, 2019. In a blog post, Kojima explained the game’s core theme was “the true importance of forging connections with others,” referring to the player’s goal of “reconnecting” an isolated society and creating new bonds. Some story themes were influenced by Kojima’s childhood and the deaths of his parents.
During Gamescom 2019, two more trailers were shown. The first introduced a key game element, a BB (Bridge Baby), alongside the character “Deadman.” The second trailer introduced “Mama.” A 6-minute gameplay trailer was also shown, demonstrating mechanics like urination and delivering packages to isolated stations. This trailer featured Canadian journalist Geoff Keighley as a hologram interacting with the main character, Sam. Japanese writer Junji Ito appeared as the hologram of the Engineer, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. The film director was modeled after Jordan Vogt-Roberts, while director Edgar Wright provided his likeness for Thomas Southerland. Hirokazu Hamamura made an appearance as the Collector. Liam O’Brien and Sam Lake were credited as the voice actor and model for Veteran Porter, respectively. Phillip North was portrayed by Tommy Wirkola.
At the Tokyo Game Show, Kojima showed and discussed an 83-minute video about the game’s general gameplay features. He said he was open to making a sequel to expand the “strand game” genre. On September 26, 2019, Kojima Productions announced the game had gone gold. In October 2019, it was announced that the game would be released on Windows by 505 Games in mid-2020, confirming rumors of a PC port that began in 2015. The game was released on July 14, 2020. During a Conan segment, comedian Conan O’Brien revealed a character modeled after him, created using a digital scan from his visit to Kojima Productions. The game’s official soundtrack, Death Stranding: Timefall, was released on November 7, 2019, featuring artists like Chvrches, The Neighbourhood, Major Lazer, and Bring Me the Horizon.
A director’s cut version of the game, with new gameplay additions, was released for PlayStation 5 on September 24, 2021, followed by a Windows version on March 30, 2022. The base game was added to PC Game Pass on August 23, 2022, with unlockable items. On November 9, 2024, Kojima Productions announced they had re-acquired the intellectual property rights to Death Stranding from Sony. They planned to bring the game to additional platforms, with the director’s cut launching on Microsoft Store, Xbox Series X/S, and Amazon Luna cloud gaming service.
Reception
The game's announcement at E3 2016 was well received. In 2017, Death Stranding was nominated by the Golden Joystick Awards for "Most Wanted Game." In June 2018, after the E3 press conferences, Death Stranding's trailers became among the most viewed on YouTube, with over 4.5 million views.
When the game was released, it received mostly positive reviews from Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. Some publications said the game had unique ideas, good graphics, strong voice acting, and a memorable soundtrack. Others said the game was too long, confusing, and slow.
Russ Frushtick of Polygon called Death Stranding "the most advanced walking simulator the world has ever seen" and said it was "composed entirely of fetch quests." He also said the game was "pretty damn fun once it gets out of its own way." Frushtick believed the game had two parts: one was a creative open-world adventure with multiplayer features, and the other was a strange, confusing story.
Matthew Kato of Game Informer gave the game a 7 out of 10 score. He said the gameplay was simple, and the story, combat, and mission goals were not satisfying enough to keep players interested. Death Stranding was the fourth game directed by Hideo Kojima and the 26th game overall to receive a perfect 40/40 score from the Japanese magazine Famitsu.
Some critics said the game portrayed asexuality as a choice to avoid emotional relationships and said it might lead to lower birth rates. In the director's cut, the data log with these views was revised and included a note that the log "advances a controversial thesis widely regarded as unsubstantiated and discriminatory."
The game faced review bombing on Metacritic, where users posted many negative reviews. In December 2019, the website removed over 6,000 negative reviews to stop unfair score manipulation.
In its first week, Death Stranding was the best-selling physical game in Japan, selling 185,909 copies. This made it the most successful debut for a new game in Japan for the eighth generation of consoles, surpassing the previous record holder, Judgment. The game stayed in Japan's top 30 best-selling physical games chart for five weeks, selling over 253,000 copies by December 2019. By March 2020, the game had sold about 262,827 physical copies and an estimated 136,279 digital copies in Japan, totaling about 399,106 sales.
In the UK, the game was second on the physical sales chart, behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It was the second biggest PlayStation exclusive debut of the year, after Days Gone. According to Media Create, the game was number one in the physical sales charts for Taiwan and South Korea. It also topped the charts in Italy and France and was second in Switzerland.
On the PlayStation Network, the game had about 3 million players, including 390,000 monthly active users, as of April 2020. According to SuperData Research, the game sold 477,000 digital copies on Steam in its first month.
Hideo Kojima said in May 2020 that the game had sold enough to cover its development costs and make a profit, funding Kojima Productions' next project.
In April 2021, the publisher 505 Games' parent company, Digital Bros, reported that the PC version of the game had made €23 million ($27 million) in revenue by December 2020, making it the company's highest-grossing game in 2020. By October 2021, the PC version had generated €31 million. As of March 2021, the game had sold 5 million copies worldwide on PS4 and PC platforms.
By April 2025, the game had reached over 20 million players worldwide.
The game won the "Best PS4 Exclusive" award at the IGN Game of the Year Awards 2019 and was nominated for "Best Music/Score" and "Best Art Direction."
Some commentators said the game's story and gameplay were similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. This connection reminded people of how a previous Kojima game, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), had predicted 2010s events like fake news and echo chambers. A parody game called Walking Simulator, set in a post-apocalyptic world affected by the pandemic, was released in March 2020.
Sequel
In May 2022, a sequel to the game was announced to be in development. Norman Reedus shared this news during an interview with Leo Edit, where he said, "We just started work on the second one." Later in the same interview, he recalled how the original game was successful, winning many awards, and noted that the team had "just started part two of that." In response, Hideo Kojima posted a series of humorous photos on Twitter, showing him playfully "punishing" Reedus for confirming the sequel's existence. The sequel was later shown in images at several game expos, featuring actors Elle Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna, and Léa Seydoux.
A first trailer for Death Stranding 2 (also called DS2, which is a working title) was shown at The Game Awards 2022. This trailer confirmed the involvement of the previously teased actors, including Troy Baker, who had appeared in the first game.
A second trailer was released during a State of Play presentation by Sony on January 31, 2024. This trailer introduced the subtitle On the Beach and set a release date for 2025. It also included appearances of George Miller (voiced by Marty Rhone) and Fatih Akin (a puppet character voiced by Jonathan Roumie).
Adaptations
A live-action film version of Death Stranding was announced on December 15, 2022. Kojima Productions worked with Alex Lebovici and his company, Hammerstone Studios, to make the film. Allan Ungar is the executive producer. A24 became a co-producer after a t-shirt with the company’s logo and Death Stranding theme appeared on A24’s merchandise website. Michael Sarnoski will write and direct the film. Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen are producers. Hideo Kojima said the film is planned to release in 2027.
In June 2025, Kojima Productions shared news that an anime film based on Death Stranding, temporarily named Death Stranding Mosquito, is being made with Line Mileage. Hiroshi Miyamoto of ABC Animation will direct the film, and Aaron Guzikowski will write the original story. A teaser trailer was released on September 23, 2025.
In November 2025, an animated television series called Death Stranding Isolations was announced. The series will have a story different from the video game. E&H Production is making the series. It is expected to premiere on Disney+ in 2027.