Hideo Kojima’s post-apocalyptic delivery man simulator Death Stranding may have gone down as one of the more divisive games of recent years, but financially it did well enough to warrant subsequent re-releases. Among these is Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, which is currently exclusive to the PlayStation 5, but that won’t be the case for too much longer.
Initially a PS4 release, the original version of Death Stranding came to PC not long after in July 2020. The Director’s Cut then followed in September of last year, but there was no word on whether it would be coming to PC as well. That’s why people took notice when a recently leaked Intel press release included mention of a PC port of the Director’s Cut, though it wasn’t clear how legit the leak was.
It turns out it was very legit, because 505 Games, publisher of Death Stranding’s base PC release, confirmed that it is bringing the Director’s Cut to PC as well. The enhanced edition is currently slated to come out this spring and will be available on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, according to the publisher. While fans will have to wait for a more specific release date, the fact that spring is only a few months away means it won’t be a long wait.
Aside from the release window, the announcement also confirms another detail from the Intel leak, that the Director’s Cut’s PC port is among multiple games that will include support for the company’s Xe Super Sampling technology. Similar to other technology like Nvidia’s DLSS, XeSS will enable PCs to produce upscaled visuals using a fraction of the pixels, which will allow players to experience Death Stranding’s detailed characters, ghostly enemies, and vast natural landscapes in greater detail without having to strain their rigs.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut brings plenty of new features to the game. There are new story missions, new exploration and combat mechanics, quality-of-life improvements like replayable boss battles and smoother resource management, and bonus activities like combat challenges and a racing mode. The enhanced version even addresses some problematic aspects of the original release, including correcting Death Stranding’s questionable representation of asexuality. However, fans of weird product placement will likely be sad to know that the Director’s Cut is missing the original’s Monster Energy drinks.
As for what the future holds for the IP, there’s been speculation that a Death Stranding sequel could be in development. Hideo Kojima recently stated that he’s working on a “radical” new game project at Kojima Productions, which is just one of a few projects he’s teased in recent times. For the time being, there’s been no solid evidence pointing towards one of them being Death Stranding 2, but since the first game remains popular enough to see multiple re-releases, it’s very possible that Kojima could be planning to step back into its world at some point.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is available now for PS5 and will release for PC this spring.