Earlier this week, the official Game Pass Twitter account was playing silly buggers with their profile pic, stating that “sometimes we just like a good landscape picture”. Immediately, internet sleuths deduced that the landscape in question looked suspiciously like Death Stranding, leading many to believe it was a teaser for Kojima’s hiking postal sim appearing on the subscription service. And yep, they were right on the money, with confirmation arriving today that the BB Boys will be pulling into Game Pass next week, on August 23rd.
Announced via another tweet that simply reads “special delivery”, the accompanying image shows Sam Bridges carrying a metal case with a nifty PC Game Pass sticker slapped on the front that reads “Delivery Confirmation: August 23, 2022”, as you can see below:
special delivery pic.twitter.com/GRTxRbDPEu
— PC Game Pass (@XboxGamePassPC) August 19, 2022
At this stage, it’s currently unclear whether the version in question is the standard edition of Death Stranding or the newer Director’s Cut, which adds more transportation methods, an extra chunk of story and a Mario Kart-style race track to the game, but I guess it won’t be too long before we find it, August 23rd being next Tuesday and all.
As you probably well know by now, I’ve invested a lot of time in Death Stranding over the years. When it first came to PC in 2020, I chronicled my journey across post-apocalyptic America with my BB Boys Road Trip photo-diary, and I even read the official Death Stranding novels, mostly so you didn’t have to. I still think it’s rad, and would strongly recommend giving it a go, if only so you can decide whether travelling around a run-down United States re-establishing a nationwide internet connection with a baby in a jar strapped to your chest the whole time is your kind of deal. And if the rumours about a Death Stranding sequel are to be believed, you can also view this as a good opportunity to get some background prep done ahead of time.
August 23rd is an interesting date for Death Stranding’s arrvial on Game Pass. I’m going into full speculation mode here, but that’s the same day that renowned Kojima fan Geoff Keighley will be hosting his Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase. Could this be the first of many such big-name Game Pass announcements happening next week (with Sam Bridges delivering them, by hand, inside his sealed metal case)? Or maybe we’ll see some sort of other Kojima-related announcement at Gamescom this year. My money’s on the former, personally, but we’ll find out for sure next Tuesday.