During SXSW 2025, the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach trailer premiered, along with a lot more, thanks to the panel that took place. While I truly feel that to get the most out of what transpired, you need to watch the panel (which I have embedded at the end of this article), let’s talk about the trailer and the news regarding Death Stranding 2: On the Beach that was revealed.
First, the trailer blew my mind, much like the first trailer for the original Death Stranding. You might need to watch it a few times, as there’s a lot going on.
Whether you watched the trailer or not, we got a release date for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach—June 26th, 2025, exclusively for PlayStation 5. However, if you purchase the Collector’s Edition of the game, you’ll get it two days earlier on June 24th, 2025. Ah, yes, let’s talk about that because I know it’s going to cause a stink.
There will be three versions of the game: Standard ($69.99), Deluxe ($79.99), and the Collector’s Edition, which is priced at—brace yourself—$229.99. This Collector’s Edition will include a 15-inch statue of Magellan Man (we’ll get to that in a bit), a Dollman figurine, art cards, a letter from Kojima, and several in-game rewards. However, it will not include a steelbook or a physical copy of the game—only a digital download. I feel like that’s a miss from PlayStation.
Lastly, it has been revealed that Kojima Productions will be launching a music tour featuring music from Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2, set to kick off in November 2025. The tour will visit the following cities:
- Sydney – November 8, 2025
- London – November 16, 2025
- Los Angeles – November 22, 2025
- Shanghai – November 28, 2025
- Bangkok – November 30, 2025
- Singapore – December 2, 2025
- Seoul – December 6, 2025
- Newark (New Jersey) – December 13, 2025
- Berlin – January 15, 2026
- Paris – January 17, 2026
- Milan – January 19, 2026
- Seattle – February 4, 2026
- Chicago – February 7, 2026
- Yokohama – February 23, 3026
- Osaka – February 28, 2026
- Austin – March 7, 2026
- Boston – March 9, 2026
- Montreal – March 26, 2026
- Toronto – March 28, 2026
Now, if you’ve watched the trailer, you may be asking – What about the Metal Gear references, well, they were definitely there. There’s the villain known as Niel, who is identical to Solid Snake, complete with bandana, to the Magellan Man that has a head unit that looks like it was ripped off of Metal Gear Rex from Metal Gear Solid (1998). It’s not an exact match but is damned close.
It’s interesting to see that Kjima would be using these designs unless he and Konami have somehow made up, but I doubt that. But I suppose we’ll have to wait to find out. And that wait won’t be too much longer as it seems that Death Stranding 2 – On the Beach is shaping up to be a must-play game of Summer 2025.
Death Stranding 2 – On the Beach was originally announced in December 2022 during the Game Awards, when it was revealed that Norman Reedus, who played the part of Sam Bridges, would make his return. In addition, it was revealed that Troy Baker would also be joining Norman, along with a star-studded cast.
Check out the full SXSW Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding 2 panel if you missed it, or case you want to watch it again.
