We know that there are two million of you out there who agree that it was an experience like no other, and that’s no mean feat when you consider a bevy of great games last year. And that’s precisely why we think that it’s worth talking about. Death Stranding has always been a franchise that’s had the distinction of being one that has big names, actors, an astronomical budget, visual splendor, and the benefit of being a PlayStation exclusive. You’d think those sales numbers could, and perhaps should, be bigger.

But the reality is that it’s feeling like a niche hit with a massive fan base as opposed to the more universally appealing PlayStation mega franchises that we’ve come to know and love. We’re sure you’re curious about why that’s the case, so let’s get right to it.

The Numbers Tell Stories

Let’s break down those rather modest sales numbers first. Death Stranding 2 reportedly passed the 2 million mark after it launched on the PC, with 425,000 copies sold on Steam and another estimated 1.6 million of them moving via the PS5. For many games, those are numbers that the developers behind them would be smiling about.

But this is Hideo Kojima we’re talking about, and a game that had Sony, Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Elle Fanning in its cast. Moreover, the production values on it screamed of a premium experience, a sentiment echoed by the game’s marketing. The numbers feel more modest than anyone would expect, considering those factors.

Of course, Death Stranding 2 was indeed a premium game, and was one that can’t easily be imitated by another studio. It was also highly anticipated, with Sam Porter’s adventures in the first game allowing the sequel to command a very attentive audience ever since the curtain was lifted on it. But somehow, it feels like the discourse around it may have pushed the ceiling it was supposed to hit too high for its own good.

Too Big For Its Boots

Why do we say that? Well, Death Stranding 2 is a game that’s always felt like one whose scope extended far beyond the world it tries to get you invested in. It’s one whose name echoes in every corner of the gaming world, and is one that invites opinions even from people who haven’t really played it.

Its trailers often become trends on their own, its weirdness has been the source of many hilarious memes, moments from its gameplay are often cited as ones that stay with you long after you’re done playing it, and Kojima’s iconic presence gave every reveal made throughout its marketing campaign an aura of importance that often transcends what other games are evaluated on.

But cultural significance doesn’t necessarily translate to mainstream adoption. A game can get famous even if it hasn’t been played by a significant majority of gamers, and Death Stranding is arguably the best example of that. It might be talked about quite often, but does that mean it has the mass appeal of Sony’s other franchises?

Look at Spider-Man, for instance. That was a franchise that carried prestige alongside the appeal of playing as a superhero, which we’ve known for most of our time engaging with popular culture. Ghost of Tsushima carried the Sucker Punch label and the appeal of a samurai fantasy, along with a story that was instantly captivating. The Last of Us was an excellent game whose story catapulted it to fame, while the TV show immediately boosted its accessibility.

Death Stranding carried a fair bit of prestige too, with Kojima’s pedigree often announcing it as a title to watch out for, but it was a title that demanded patience, diligence, and a lot of willingness to contend with friction in its gameplay loop. It’s a great concept and a solid game, but it wasn’t for everyone. And that difference matters.

Kojima’s name isn’t a cheat code for automatic success, after all. He’s an icon whose very presence can help sell a project, creating anticipation, trust, and a fair bit of attention for anything he touches. But Death Stranding is evidence that the Kojima brand isn’t enough to make a concept as strange as the one it offers a mainstream success.

Yes, it can help with getting people to talk about the game, and perhaps even watch a few trailers. It can get critics and fans to treat a launch like a culturally significant event, a milestone of sorts. But dive into the gameplay loop, and you see a finished product that’s deliberate and slow.

And that could cause many players to admire it from a distance instead of actually engaging with it and discovering how emotionally dense and layered what it’s offering can be.

Praised, But Not Adored

You might be wondering why we picked this one as our Game of the Year, given all that we’ve been saying about it here. A game’s quality isn’t necessarily tied to its commercial scale, and that’s a bit of nuance that’s often overlooked. That’s especially true when it’s quite hard to accurately point to what makes a game special, and in one that’s as unusual and demanding as DS2, that becomes especially relevant.

It’s a game that comes with barriers, challenging you to overcome them by showing the same resilience that its protagonists demonstrate. DS2 might have been polished, beautiful, very emotionally resonant, and extremely ambitious, but it still had its limitations. It was a sequel to an already divisive first outing, while its core fantasy doesn’t carry the immediate appeal of a samurai or superhero.

The story could seem too philosophical to players who want something more straightforward, and the same can be said for its gameplay loop, which comes with an appeal that only the most discerning of players could grow to love. These so-called “flaws” are what make it as special as it is and are a part of its identity. But they could also limit how appealing it can be to someone who doesn’t grasp the vision it brings to the table.

It’s also important to consider that the first game had a very long time to accumulate massive sales. The original game managed five million copies across the PS4 and PC by March 2021, but there were several factors at play. They include a longer post-release window, a lot of conversation (and we mean a lot!), and had multiple discounts, a re-release, access via subscriptions, and of course, the game’s PC debut working its favor.

Doesn’t DS2 deserve a similar window before its commercial viability is analysed? We’d agree, as its launch momentum isn’t a final indicator of its mass appeal. But that only serves to strengthen our argument that this one’s a game that slowly draws players in through word of mouth, curiosity, discounts, a presence on PC, and, of course, its cultural staying power.

It may not be a mainstream blockbuster franchise, but it does have value as a long-term prestige play. And that’s where Sony comes in.

A Prestige Problem

If you think about Sony’s wider strategy for PlayStation, the brand has built a reputation around polished, cinematic experiences that are presented as premium single-player titles. It’s a strategy that’s paid dividends in the past and recent present, and will probably continue to do so in the near future.

DS2 stands out in that regard, though. It’s a prestige project to be sure, but it’s one that doesn’t come with a broadly accepted fantasy, the appeal of a familiar genre, or mass-market characters. It does carry a unique, auteur-driven identity that lets it stand out from other titles that fall into one or more of the other categories, though.

That doesn’t rule out its chances of achieving commercial success on the level of those titles over the course of its shelf life, and it’s not a bad investment despite not having the same commercial ceiling. It does, however, cement PlayStation as a home for ambitious creators who come with a vision for something that hasn’t been done before.

It’s proof that its unique form of prestige might not be as commercially well-performing, and it proves that not every critically acclaimed game is going to be a tentpole for the PlayStation brand, even if it’s one that became an internet sensation and a source of a lot of discussion around it. The intensity of its online presence seems to have distorted expectations around its scope and scale, in a way that has made it seem like it should have sold more than it has, despite the actual game being attractive to a relatively narrow buying audience.

But that still isn’t bad news for Kojima Productions, as a successful cult game is probably the best thing to happen for the studio. It has never needed to chase the largest possible audience it can get, but has definitely shown the intent to be a studio that makes games nobody else can make.

DS2’s devoted audience, and its rare creative identity courtesy of its makers, are factors that are more crucial in the examination of its overall success. Its sales numbers pale in significance to its avoidance of trying to be a mainstream blockbuster. It never tried to be one, and we think that it’s high time the industry and the game’s fans acknowledge that facet of its existence.

From that perspective, DS2 is a reality check, and should be seen that way as opposed to thinking about it as a disappointment. It isn’t Spider-Man, or Horizon Forbidden West, and that’s the point. It’s a title that has all the makings of a blockbuster, but one that is a lot more specific and focused on a vision that’s decidedly stranger and more fragile.

It’s what has made it sell like a successful cult game, and is certainly what it was always meant to be.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organizatio

The studio has also noted that the update brings in more options for players to tweak when it comes to defining sharpness when making use of image upscaling. Along with this, bugs related to frame generation have also been addressed. For more details about the update, take a look at the full patch notes below.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was released on PC just last month and has seemingly been quite a successful launch. It made its debut with almost 56,000 concurrent players on launch day, along with an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating with 96 percent of all reviews praising the port. In its estimates, research firm Alinea Analytics has estimated that, as of the end of March, the PC release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sold around 425,000 copies, bringing up the game’s total sales across PC and PS5 to over 2 million.

Leading up to the title’s PC release, Kojima Productions had taken to the PlayStation Blog to discuss some of the platform-specific features that had been designed for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. This includes features like ray tracing with reflections and ambient occlusion, as well as new content like the To The Wilder difficulty mode that pushes “your porter skills to the extreme in merciless environments filled with deadly enemies”. It is worth noting that new gameplay content was also added to the PS5 version with a free update.

Our own review of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC praised it, giving it a score of 10 out of 10 thanks to its excellent performance on the platform, plenty of graphics options, compelling story, and gameplay refinements over its predecessor. We called the title a “uniquely meditative experience” that was “punctuated by high-octane action” with “awesome boss fights”.

More recently, Kojima Productions had also updated the title to bring in enough performance refinements to get it officially Steam Deck Verified. This means that, along with UI considerations like readable texts and controller support, it is also capable of running on Valve’s handheld gaming PC at reasonable frame rates without many crashes or other issues.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach PC update 1.4 patch notes:

• Players on Steam will now see more Steam user avatars in the Social Strand Service.
• Fixed various rare crashes and implemented additional stability improvements.
• Expanded the range of sharpness control for upscaling options.
• Improved image quality for various textures when Texture Quality is set to Medium or lower.
• AMD FSR and Intel XeSS Frame Generation now correctly include vignetting when interpolating frames.
• Resolved a bug affecting the appearance of flowing water that occurred when building a Hot Spring with Frame Generation enabled.
• Various improvements and bug fixes related to the user interface.
• Fixed various minor graphics-related bugs.

This includes full controller support with appropriate input icons, the ability to bring up the on-screen keyboard when needed, a lack of compatibility warnings, and potential launchers being navigable with a controller. There’s also support for the Deck’s default resolution of 1280×800 or 1280×720, appropriate default settings, legible text, and good support for Proton, including for anti-cheat systems and any other middleware.

Aside from getting Steam Deck Verified, the update also addresses frame rate drops that players might have experienced whenever they use the scope of a sniper rifle. For more details, check out the full patch notes below.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was released on PC just last month after having spent several months only being available on PS5. The PC release made a strong debut, peaking at 57,682 concurrent players. While Kojima Productions hasn’t revealed too many details about sales, Alinea Analytics estimated that it had sold 425,000 copies on Steam in its release month. This, combined with a previous report indicating 1.4 million sales on PS5, would bring total sales of the title up to over 2 million.

Shortly after the PC release, lead level designer Hiraoki Yoshiike spoke about the more fast-paced nature of the storytelling in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, thanks to world-building being toned down, and how it was done this way because “Kojima wanted more people to enjoy the game all the way to the end. This was an order he provided.”

He went on to discuss how, since much of the world-building had already been done with the original Death Stranding, with the sequel, the studio could focus on telling the ongoing plot rather than having to divert their attention to more world-building elements.

For more details about the PC release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, check out our review.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach update 1.3 patch notes:

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is now Steam Deck verified.
• Fixed hitches and stutter that could occur when zooming in with sniper rifles.
• Implemented performance optimizations.
• Fixed multiple rare crashes and improved overall stability.
• Addressed various minor graphics-related bugs.
• Various input and user interface related improvements and bug fixes.
• Implemented various text and localization related fixes.

Considering both platforms, Death Stranding 2 has potentially generated about $147 million in revenue since launch. The analyst firm also believes that the PC version’s release resulted in a significant spike in PS5 sales. Compared to previous discounts, the latter apparently jumped by 12,500 copies sold daily, peaking at 12,800.

While one could attribute this to marketing for the PC version driving more people to check it out on console, it also didn’t hurt that a new update went live for both platforms. It added new live-action cutscenes, items and an even tougher difficulty, “To The Wilder.” There’s also boss rematches and support for 21:9 ultrawide screens.

Whether or not that’s enough to spur more PS5 owners to jump in, the addition of more features certainly makes it a more attractive proposition. The lack of other major PS5 titles also likely helped (especially with Saros still more than a month away).

For more details on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PC, check out our review.

“Kojima wanted more people to enjoy the game all the way to the end. This was an order he provided,” Yoshiike said.

Further in the interview, he noted that the studio decided to tone down the worldbuilding elements for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. That isn’t to say there isn’t any extra detail to be found in the game’s story, however, and Yoshiike even noted that completionists can discover and enjoy these elements on their own. For everyone else, however, the title offers a clearer path forward that doesn’t meander as much.

“In the second game, we didn’t need to provide too many worldbuilding elements, we could make it less elaborate,” said Yoshiike. “For completionists, they can enjoy it, but at the same time, people who don’t necessarily care about it that much, we made sure they can follow the story through other supplemental elements within the game. That was one of the design choices that we made. We’ve gotten a lot of feedback that it’s much easier to recommend DS2 to people. And we’re able to see the metrics, and we saw that people progress much further than they previously had. So that was just as we designed, I think.”

Kojima has been known to make changes to his games based on player feedback in the past. Back in June 2025, musician Yoann “Woodkid” Lemoine revealed that the story for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach had been changed after earlier versions of the game were already in playtesting.

“There’s a key moment where we had a discussion, probably halfway [through] when we were doing the game, where he came to me and he said, ‘We have a problem,’” said Lemoine in an interview.

“Then he said, ‘I’m going to be very honest, we have been testing the game with players and the results are too good. They like it too much. That means something is wrong; we have to change something.’ And he changed stuff in the script and the way some crucial stuff [happens] in the game because he thought his work was not polarizing and not triggering enough emotions.”

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was released on PS5 back in back in June. After seeing a positive critical reception at the time, Kojima Productions, alongside support studio Nixxes, would work on bringing the title to PC, where it would arrive this month. For more details about the latter, check out our review of the PC port. Also take a look at how many players rushed to play the game on launch day.

Death Stranding, by comparison, peaked at 32,515 concurrent players. The Director’s Cut would debut in March 2022 and peak at 22,080 concurrent. Considering it isn’t even the weekend, there’s the potential for Death Stranding 2 to perform even better, which is great news for Kojima Productions. Check out our review of the PC port for more details.

Unfortunately, it’s not exactly the best figures for PlayStation Studios on Steam, lagging behind the likes of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut (77,154), God of War (73,529) and Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition (56,557). Meanwhile, Returnal, LEGO Horizon Adventures, and more have failed to replicate the same level of success. If rumors are to be believed, Sony could be reining in first-party single-player releases on PC.

Ghost of Yōtei was apparently slated for the same, but has since been scrapped. You also shouldn’t expect Saros or Marvel’s Wolverine to arrive anytime soon, though plans could always change.

"Death Stranding 2: On the Beach continues to be a phenomenal game."

Let’s get the most important thing out of the way: the PC port of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a fantastic one. I was able to test it on a mid-range system running on an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, a Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU, and 32 GB of DDR5-6000 RAM, and experienced essentially no performance hitches whatsoever despite most of the graphics settings being cranked up to the max. I was able to maintain a steady frame rate of over 100 FPS for most of my time with the game at 1440p, with very rare dips to below 100, but still over 60, when things got particularly busy or I had entered a brand new area.

With performance out of the way, it is also well worth noting that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a gorgeous game. While I couldn’t make exact frame-by-frame comparisons, I thought it looked quite a bit better than it did on my base PS5. The only negative I have here is the implementation of FSR 3. There was a tendency for some environmental objects, primarily foliage, to look quite blurry due to the nature of upscaling. However, this is far from the game’s own fault, and largely comes down to how FSR 3 works.

"With performance out of the way, it is also well worth noting that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a gorgeous game."

Support for various control methods were also well implemented. While I did give keyboard and mouse a shot for some time, however, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach still feels like it was designed very much with controllers in mind. Despite this, the control layout for keyboard and mouse felt just fine, and I could find no moment where things got too awkward for me to accomplish what I was trying to do. Of course, for players who have more unique and less-supported controllers out there, Steam Input works flawlessly here, with the only caveat being that changing any keybindings will require you to do it through Steam rather than in-game. For everyone else, the in-game options will be plenty.

Generally speaking, PC is a fantastic platform to experience Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, thanks in large part to the effort Kojima Productions and Nixxes went through to ensure that it is a smooth port. Along with offering plenty of options, be it for graphics like volumetric lighting and terrain quality, or for keyboard and mouse controls, like switching between toggle and hold settings for various in-game actions, as well as fine-tuning options for camera sensitivity. If you would like to get more granular, there are also options to change the quality level of things like Volumetric Lighting, Translucency, Reflections, and Reflections, along with the usual suspects like Texture Quality and Ambient Occlusion.

As for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach as a whole, it feels like a sequel in just about every way possible. Now, don’t get me wrong. I mean this in an entirely positive way, since I loved the original Death Stranding when it first came out thanks to its unique take on the open-world genre and fun gameplay mechanics that revolved more around the simple act of walking from point to point, making essential deliveries. What I do mean by Death Stranding 2 feeling like a sequel is that it has basically built upon, and improved just about every aspect of its predecessor, from gameplay to presentation to story.

The plot of Death Stranding 2 starts off quite simple. Several months after the events of Death Stranding, protagonist Sam Bridges and his adopted daughter Lou are living off the grid, outside of the Chiral network as established by the United Cities of America. Sam is making a modest living by making simple deliveries, and generally being a good father to Lou. However, one day, an old friend manages to find him: Fragile. She tasks Sam with a major mission, to bring the Chiral network to Mexico. On doing so, Sam’s actions towards the end of the original Death Stranding will be forgiven, and he will be free to live his life wherever he wants.

"The plot of Death Stranding 2 starts off quite simple."

Along the way, Sam also learns about a mysterious new anomaly. While not too many details about this anomaly are revealed, at least for the time being, we do learn that it allows instantaneous travel to Australia. After having made the long, arduous treks back and forth to complete this delivery, however, Sam is faced with a new adversary. A month later, Sam is called on by Fragile once more to help lead an expedition to Australia, attempting to bring the continent into the Chiral network.

The prologue chapter is quite long, with the game only really opening up properly once you finally get to Australia. Despite this, however, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach never really feels like a slow game in terms of how it paces out its story. Sure, you’ll be spending several hours making dozens of deliveries between important plot beats. When you do hit those beats, however, the revelations and plot twists start coming in quite fast. This is further helped by the phenomenal cast of characters aboard your new home base, the DHV Magellan.

While several characters from the original Death Stranding return, like Fragile, we also get brand new characters like Tarman. A personal favorite of mine throughout the story was Dollman, as played by Fatih Akin and Jonathan Roumie, since his mannerisms are often quite funny, and the comedy is further compounded by the fact that his animations are always running at a slower framerate.

Beyond the minor live-action story additions, and the new nightmares Sam has to endure, PC players can look forward to a few extra touches worth mentioning. There’s full DualSense integration with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, which feels fitting, if also fairly expected for a major PlayStation release on PC, while ultrawide support extends to 21:9 during in-game cutscenes. On the content side, PC players can look forward to experiencing the “Trapped in a Strange Realm,” a new VR training area built around Sam’s battles with Neil, as well as “to the wilder” mode, a new challenge option designed to push porter skills to the limit in far more punishing conditions. As a side note, all of these updates are also coming to the PlayStation 5.

"Beyond the minor live-action story additions, and the new nightmares Sam has to endure, PC players can look forward to a few extra touches worth mentioning."

When it comes to gameplay, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach offers much of what its predecessor did: long treks through empty landscape where you have to plan out your routes to avoid steep mountains, deep rivers, and other environmental hazards. While the core gameplay hasn’t changed too much, there are some added twists thanks to the world itself. A day and night cycle can often change up the nature of deliveries altogether, bringing in major changes to visibility. There are also plenty of new environmental hazards to deal with, from earthquakes and sandstorms to wildfires and avalanches, which can further throw a wrench into your carefully-designed route across Australia’s many regions.

While the core traversal can be quite meditative at times, Death Stranding 2 also has more options than ever before for how you can deal with threats. Along with a variety of weapons that can be outfitted with non-lethal ammunition, you also have more tools to use if you would simply prefer to sneak away and avoid conflict altogether.

Death Stranding 2 offers a uniquely meditative experience for most of its runtime, punctuated by high-octane action thanks to its awesome boss fights, as well as emotional and epic moments alike with its fun story that revolves around whether or not connecting the world in the first game was altogether such a great idea.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The ray-traced reflections won’t just apply to water surfaces, making sections like the battle against Neil all the more stunning, but also to tar. And thanks to ray traced ambient occlusion, you can expect “more realistic shadows in crevices, corners, and between objects.” So while the Very High setting should offer ample fidelity, ray tracing allows for going further beyond (though Kojima Productions notes that it isn’t factored into the system requirements).

As for the new update, its new difficulty, “To The Wilder,” will push “your porter skills to the extreme in merciless environments filled with deadly enemies, and completing orders will require every ounce of ingenuity you can muster.” While it doesn’t go into specifics – because why ruin the surprise – you can’t change the difficulty once it’s selected, and there’s no reward locked behind its completion (aside from a “truly priceless” sense of satisfaction).

And while it doesn’t specifically mention the ability to rematch other bosses, the new VR training area, “Trapped in a Strange Realm,” lets you relive those fights against Neil. Completing these will unlock new bandanas for Sam, and we’re already getting flashbacks to Metal Gear Solid’s infinite ammo cheat. The Chiral Feline will also occasionally visit the private room, but feel free to take pictures with it in the wild courtesy of Photo Mode’s new features.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches on March 19th for PC, with the update going live on the same day for PS5. Head here for more details on what you should expect from the PC version. You can also watch the PC launch trailer below, though beware of spoilers.

Standalone Sequel That Continues the Social Strand System

Widely considered the latest of Kojima’s masterpieces – not least in our corner, where we awarded the PS5 release a perfect score – Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is the standalone follow-up to post-apocalyptic delivery simulator Death Stranding. Despite both games walking similar paths, Death Stranding 2 is designed to be approachable even if you didn’t play or finish the original (although knowledge of the game’s befuddling terminology – chiralium, BTs, timefall, DOOMs, and so on – wouldn’t go amiss). At the sequel’s core, however, remains the Social Strand system: an asynchronous online feature where your choice to leave structures, tools, and traversal aids behind indirectly shapes another player’s experience, and vice versa.

Character-Driven Narrative That Pushes the Series’ Themes

In Death Stranding 2, Hideo Kojima once again delivers a character-driven story which blends sci-fi spectacle with philosophical themes. Norman Reedus’ Sam Porter Bridges returns, joined by new and returning faces, as he embarks on another trek to establish lost connections across remote colonies – this time in Mexico and, predominately, Australia. You should expect a heavy thematic narrative that interrogates the ramifications of isolation and reconnection in a post-pandemic world.

Refined Combat, Stealth, and Traversal

Core gameplay still revolves around traversal, cargo management, and deliveries, but the sequel expands combat and stealth mechanics. You now come equipped with more strategic options, with an expanded roster of tactical gizmos and equipment to promote varied approaches and playstyles. Still, traversal is the experience’s beating heart; deeply physical, with each step placed deliberately. Planning routes, balancing weight, and adapting to environmental hazards are more crucial than ever.

NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel Upscaling Support with Frame Regeneration

Death Stranding 2’s PC version includes support for NVIDIA DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2, alongside upscaling and frame regeneration technology. This means that if your GPU is compatible, you can experience On The Beach’s expansive terrains and dense environmental detail at high fidelity without sacrificing performance. Furthermore, Pico – Progressive Image Compositor – options are available in upscale settings. Developed by Horizon’s Guerilla Games, Pico can be used with all supported graphics cards whilst being combined with any of the frame regeneration options. And finally, all upscaling options can be used alongside Dynamic Resolution Scaling too.

Native 4K and Ultrawide Support

The sequel can also be experienced in native 4K resolution alongside panoramic, ultrawide display support – super ultrawide 32:9 monitors are supported for gameplay, while standard ultrawide 21:9 is offered for in-game cutscenes. You don’t necessarily need an ultrawide monitor either, as high-res 16:9 monitors can enable widescreen aspect ratios in the game’s display settings. The game’s cinematic presentation and vast landscapes are particularly well-suited to wider aspect ratios, and while a 21:9 ultrawide PS5 update will coincide with the PC version, PC is still arguably the most immersive way to experience this detailed world.

Extensive Graphic Settings Include Uncapped Framerates

As you’d expect, this PC release offers a broad range of graphic settings, allowing you to fine-tune visual quality across ambient occlusion, real-time dynamic shadow texture, sand and water effects, and volumetric rendering for inclement weather – rain, sandstorms, fog, that sort of thing. Also, if your hardware and monitor refresh rates are up to it, uncapped framerates are an option.

DualSense Controller Integration

If you’re using a PS5 DualSense as your go-to PC gaming controller, then Death Stranding 2 lets you take advantage of the controller’s haptic feedback to feel the drama in the game’s high-intensity combat through your hands, and study the weight distribution of your cargo through its adaptive triggers. From resistance when traversing uneven ground, to subtle atmospheric feedback, the DualSense brings tactile immersion to the experience.

Full Keyboard and Mouse Customisation

If you prefer traditional PC controls, Death Stranding 2’s also got you covered with complete mouse and keyboard support along with comprehensive keybinding options. Now, PC players of the original Death Stranding report only minor gripes with the default controls. If we assume Death Stranding 2 will be the same, then the option to map custom keybinds will likely be relegated to something that is nice to have rather than being an essential customisation.

Advanced 3D Audio Support

On the subject of what’s essential. Death Stranding 2 PC ships with advanced support for 3D audio, including Dolby Access – enabling Dolby Atmos – DTS Sound Unbound, or Windows Sonic for Headphones. Through compatible headphones or sound systems, object-based surround sound that gives you clear audible pictures – bringing sounds from any direction or elevation – are integral in supporting immersion through exploration. Your ears will pinpoint everything from rainfall on roofs to distant enemy footsteps and chatter, giving you the edge whether you’re sneaking past an outpost or looking for stealthy takedowns.

New Modes and Features are Coming

As confirmed by Kojima Productions, new game modes, features, challenges, and rewards are coming to Death Stranding 2’s PC version, with full details expected to be revealed in the coming weeks. If the original game’s Director’s Cut is anything to go by, you could see a suite of meaningful gameplay, tools, and quality of life improvements rather than cosmetic additions.

Connecting PSN Account Unlocks Exclusive Bonuses

By no means essential, if you’ve got one then logging into your PlayStation account while accessing Death Stranding 2 PC grants access to the PlayStation overlay and unlocks trophy support along with your profile, settings, and friends list. Unique in-game patches, backpack customisations, and a special PS logo-inspired suit are extra incentives to connect your PSN account.

Pre-Order Bonuses

All Death Stranding 2: On The Beach PC pre-orders give the following in-game bonuses: a Quokka early unlock custom hologram, and Battle, Boost, and Bokka Skeletons, each in silver up to level three. If you’re unsure, holograms are visual bonus items used to decorate structures, while skeletons are wearable mechanical leg frames which enhance Sam’s physical abilities. You’ll find these especially useful the harsher the terrain you encounter.

Release Date, Price, and PC Requirements

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach releases to PC on March 19th, with the Standard Edition priced at £69.99 / $69.99. There is a Digital Deluxe Edition available alongside the Standard to purchase via Steam or the Epic Games Store – we’ll detail this edition next.

To hit the game’s minimum PC requirements, with graphics preset set to low and an average performance of 1080p at 30fps, you’ll need an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB GPU, Intel Core i3-10100 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 CPU, and 16GB RAM. In fact, 16GB RAM is what’s required through each graphics preset, from medium through high up to very high.

The recommended PC specs are as follows: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 GPU and Intel Core i7-11700 or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU. This setup should yield you an average performance of 1440p resolution at 60fps. If you want to hit 4K resolution at those framerates, your GPU needs to be a GeForce RTX 4080, AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT or equivalent. 150GB SSD storage is also required.

Digital Deluxe Edition Content

As we’ve just said, a Digital Deluxe Edition is also available, bundling in exclusive, decorative in-game patches plus gold Battle, Boost, and Bokka skeletons, and an early unlock for a level one machine gun – retailing for £79.99 / $79.99.

The Definitive Version – Content Updates Also Coming to PS5

So whilst this isn’t Death Stranding 2: Director’s Cut (that hasn’t been officially announced, but will likely follow the same pattern as Death Stranding), there’s no doubt that the upcoming PC release will be the definitive, most technically complete way to experience the sequel. The advanced graphical options and cinematic widescreen support shape its definitiveness alone, but PlayStation players won’t be left behind as the slated content drops are set to come to PS5 as well as be included in the PC version.

Fortunately, the wide range of presets means exceptional scalability, and there’s even a Portable setting for those with handheld PCs. Other notable options include support for upscaling and frame generation via Nvidia DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4 and Intel XeSS 2. You can also enable Dynamic Resolution Scaling and native anti-aliasing.

However, Progressive Image Compositor, or Pico, is perhaps the most intriguing. It’s the same upscaling tech from Guerrilla Games used in the PS5 version, and you can mix and match options based on your preference.

Of course, you can also expect Ultrawide support, including 21:9 and 32:9 displays, but the option is also available for 16:9 screens. If that wasn’t enough, PS5 players can look forward to a free update that adds support for 21:9 displays. It goes live on the same day as the PC version, so if you were looking to enjoy the title in all its cinematic glory but don’t want to double-dip, this is fantastic news.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is out on March 19th for PC. Check out our review of the PS5 version here, which also went on to become our Game of the Year winner for 2025.