Not every game is a fit for the Steam Deck, but Death Stranding is a perfect match for Valve’s handheld. Jumping between relaxing strolls through a quiet wasteland and hyper-stylish battles against BTs, it’s ideal for hunkering down with. With the sequel, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, set for launch in June, Hideo Kojima confirms that the first installment has surpassed 20 million players globally.
In a recent post from the Metal Gear mastermind on social media, Kojima expresses that “the number of Death Stranding players has exceeded 20 million. Thank you very much. Sams from all over the world are still delivering. You are connecting the world.” In July 2021, two years after the open-world game’s initial launch, Death Stranding pushed past five million copies sold. A PC port landed on Steam in 2020, with new mobile game iterations landing last January.
As the game continues to welcome more players, it’s seeing a significant surge on Steam Charts. In March, Death Stranding had an over 1.4k gain in players, amounting to an impressive 115% rise. Despite the Steam Deck game’s increased popularity, the game has only seen a peak of just under 7k players on Steam.
It sits among the ranks of most-played titles on the Epic Games Store and the Steam Deck’s top 100 games. Death Stranding runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, and it’s still a joy to see it verified on Valve’s console.
With the game’s ascension up the Steam Charts, we can only assume one thing: you didn’t finish it, but that’s alright. I’ve spent plenty of time since Death Stranding released convincing friends to give it a go and to try and get over the “it’s just a walking simulator” stigma.
It’s absurd and obtuse in all the classic Kojima ways, but underneath it all, there is a genuinely touching story about connection and the human condition. I’m not ashamed to say it had me bawling my eyes out at 5:00 AM when I completed it during the pandemic.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is set for release on June 26, 2025, after Kojima initially scrapped his original concept and rewrote the game from scratch.
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