It looks like there’s a possibility that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach could come to Xbox in the future. Hideo Kojima is one of the great minds in the gaming industry. He’s one of the only video game developers that people know by name and probably the only true gaming auteur. Every game made by his team is almost singularly attributed to him and his vision by fans, despite the fact hundreds of people work on them. It’s maybe a bit unfair to those that help bring it all to life, but he has a distinct sense of direction for all of his games that carry over from Metal Gear Solid to Death Stranding. With that said, some fans were a bit sad when he left Konami and partnered with PlayStation. While he has a long history with the company, some feared this move squashed any chance of seeing more Kojima games on Xbox.
However, that is far from true. In addition to working with Xbox on a brand new exclusive called OD, Hideo Kojima surprised fans by releasing Death Stranding for Xbox Series X|S earlier today with no prior warning. It was a welcome surprise and had fans scrambling to the Xbox Store to purchase the critically acclaimed game. Previously, it was only available on PS4, PS5, and PC, but now fans can play it on Xbox with glorious achievements and even carry over their progress to the PC version on the Microsoft Store. The sudden release struck people as odd, however, as PlayStation owned the rights to the Death Stranding IP and is expected to publish Death Stranding 2.
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It turns out the reason all of this was able to happen is because Kojima Productions acquired the IP from PlayStation, meaning they have control over where the franchise ends up. Kojima noted in a press release that he plans to continue to “connect” more players around the world by bringing the game to new platforms such as Xbox.
 “It is my pleasure to finally announce that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be delivered to Xbox players,” said Kojima. “I would like to thank all the fans who have stayed connected with us as well as everyone in the Xbox community who have been patiently waiting. Kojima Productions (Death Stranding) will continue to connect more and more players around the world, so please stay tuned.”
If Kojima wants to put it on Nintendo Switch, he certainly could. So, does this mean Death Stranding 2 will come to Xbox? Probably at some point. It seems likely that because PlayStation is helping produce Death Stranding 2 that there is some sort of deal in place that it must be exclusive to PS5 at least for some time. We don’t know that for certain, it could release on Xbox at the same time as PS5, but it does seem hard to imagine PlayStation would willingly let that happen. The PC version of Death Stranding didn’t release until about eight months after the PS4 version. Similarly, the “Director’s Cut” version for PS5 released on PC about 6 months later.
With all of that said, it’s likely another staggered release can be expected for Death Stranding 2 on Xbox. 505 Games notably published the PC and Xbox versions of the first game as opposed to PlayStation. It remains to be seen if 505 Games will return to publish the sequel on other platforms and what that would even mean for PlayStation’s revenue if it no longer owns the franchise. If Hideo Kojima chooses to make Death Stranding 3, it’s possible that he could publish the game on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC all on the same day provided he doesn’t seek out another deal with PlayStation to secure some funding.
However, Kojima is proving to be commercially successful with his unique visions and may be able to get a threequel off the ground without heavy lifting from a partner he has such a long and close relationship with. Death Stranding is getting a film adaptation produced by A24, so that will help bring the series even further into the mainstream.
Hideo Kojima’s relationship with PlayStation isn’t dissolving either. He is still developing Physint, a brand new experimental espionage game that will be produced in part with Columbia Pictures, a Sony-owned film production/distribution company. It’s a massive, ambitious joint effort with PlayStation and Sony, so it seems he’s still on very good terms with them.
