Auteur and one-time visitor to my place of employment, Hideo Kojima, has finally confirmed the release date of the much anticipated sequel to Death Stranding, Death Stranding 2: One the Beach. And it looks insane. Available exclusively on the PS5, it’ll be released on the 26th June this year.
It will also eventually be released on the PC – and the Mac – but for the time being it’ll only be available as an exclusive title for the Playstation 5. It’s still powered by Guerilla’s Decima game engine, but there looks to be have been some significant improvements which look absolutely gorgeous – some of the landscapes are significantly impressive.
The game also introduces the likeness (e.g. 3D scan of the person, but performance and voiced by an actor) of film directors George “Mad Max” Miller as a one-handed ship’s captain, and Fatih Akin as some kind of living/sentient, stop-motion animated doll. Norman Reedus returns as Sam, as does Léa Seydoux, and the likeness of director Nicolas Winding Refn as Heartman (who also turned up with Kojima at our offices).
This, along with Grand Theft Auto VI, is my most anticipated game of 2025. But from a storytelling perspective, this is the granddaddy of them all. The first game drew me into a surreal world whereby humanity faces an extinction event and that there are links between the worlds of life and death. It has been the only computer game to make me openly weep when its time to say goodbye to one of the characters – the storytelling, music and performances as well as the gameplay truly provide a unique and wonderful experience that transcends film and television. And speaking of music, I’m delighted that Woodkid is mainly responsible for the soundtrack this time. Woodkid is an ex-VFX artist turned musician and I’ve been a fan for his for a long time. So very much pumped for that.
If Kojima has done it again – and I truly hope that he has – this is going to be the game of year for me even with GTA VI nipping at its heels.