It’s no surprise that Death Stranding has a plethora of strange terms and fiction surrounding it, given the extensive, mysterious buildup to the game’s launch. That being said, while the world and lore of Death Stranding is certainly unique, it's not unfathomable and these fictional terms and ideas just need a bit of context to be grasped fully.
Among the list of intriguing occurrences in Death Stranding like celebrity and industry cameos or the ability to have Sam’s pee affect the online landscape of the game, are terms like BTs, Timefall, and Voidouts. In Death Stranding, a Voidout is an event that leaves a massive, blackened crater in its wake and involves a human being dying in the game’s world.
What is a Voidout?
To put it simply, a Voidout is caused when an individual who dies by a BT attack does not get disposed of properly. Individuals who die by a BT attack must be incinerated before a certain amount of time. If they don’t, they cause a massive explosion which leaves an equally massive blackened crater behind powerful enough to obliterate whatever was around it.
In fact, early on in the game’s story players get the chance to witness a Voidout occur, displaying the absolute destruction that one leaves behind. Even though Voidouts leave a massive amount of destruction in their wake, it is possible for players to cause them in game. Though, it’s not an easy task.
Causing a Voidout
To cause a Voidout, Sam will have to die in a pretty specific fashion. Sam is what’s known as a Repatriate in the world of Death Stranding, meaning he’s someone who can return to life after dying. Once Sam dies, he enters the Seam and will have to find his body to return to life. However, providing Sam gets eaten by a giant BT, which can be summoned by getting dragged off by a BT in the world, he can cause a Voidout. So, first just walk or fast travel to a BT-fested zone.
Once a giant BT is summoned, it will start attacking Sam. The best way for Sam to actually get eaten is to stay close to the BT, because if Sam goes to far the BT will attack with long-ranged attacks which only physically harm Sam. When a giant BT lunges headfirst at Sam, that’s the easiest way to actually get eaten. Once Sam is eaten, players will know a Voidout will occur if the death animation zooms into Sam’s body. Upon entering the Seam and emerging, Sam will wake up to a massive Voidout crater.
There seem to be some systems in place so that Voidout craters don’t actually destroy important landmarks, as BTs will drag the player far enough away into an open space. However, Voidout craters do actually impact the open world of Death Stranding. In fact, the crater itself will be inaccessible as it’s surrounded by an energy barrier, but can be seen on the map. Now that players know how to cause these giant bouts of devastation, chug some of that digital Monster Energy and get to exploding.
Death Stranding is out now for PS4, and will be out on PC in Summer 2020.