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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Technology
Matthew G Cooper

Death Stranding available now on Xbox after shock launch

Death Stranding has arrived on Xbox Series S and X in a shock move.

The game was previously and very publicly a PlayStation 4 exclusive, released back in 2019.

It was Kojima’s first post-Metal Gear game and the roll-out had been slowly teased since it was first announced in 2016.

In 2017 it was nominated as one of the Golden Joystick Awards’ Most Wanted Games but the reaction to the game on actual release was much more varied. Reviews described the game as being a walking simulator “filled entirely with fetch quests” but also as a game in which if “you give a lot a get a lot in return.”

It was definitely not a game which gave people what they expected and another thing people did not expect was for the game to crop up on Microsoft’s Xbox - exactly five years after it launched on the PlayStation. The reason this has suddenly become a possibility is because Sony’s five-year exclusivity deal has now expired.

Is Death Stranding on Game Pass?

Unlike Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which came to Xbox’s subscription service on day one, Death Stranding will not be on Game Pass. Due to the nature of how Game Pass works it is unknown when it will become available until around a month before.

However, the game is currently on sale with a 50% launch discount - meaning you can pick it up for just $19.99.

What is Death Stranding about?

This being a Hideo Kojima game, that question is not so straightforward to answer.

In short, your task is to traverse America and reunite humanity.

The official description of the game is as follows:

‘In the future, a mysterious event known as the Death Stranding has opened a doorway between the living and the dead, leading to grotesque creatures from the afterlife roaming the fallen world marred by a desolate society.

‘As Sam Bridges, your mission is to deliver hope to humanity by connecting the last survivors of a decimated America. Can you reunite the shattered world, one step at a time?’

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