Sony announces Death Stranding release date in bizarre Twitch stream

Death Stranding, the puzzling brainwave of former Konami problem child Hideo Kojima, has tantalized the internet for some time. Now, after offering only the most obscure view of the game for almost 3 years, the developers have finally, finally given a good look at Death Stranding in the new trailer, and revealed when it will come out — albeit in the strangest way possible.

The 8-minute trailer was played on Twitch on a loop for several hours, with more and more of the screen being revealed the more people were watching. By “being revealed,” I mean they revealed part of the screen in the form of a handprint. It was weird. Eventually the number of viewers either reached critical mass or the devs got tired of waiting, because they revealed the trailer for everyone to see.

Up to now — and I would say still — Death Stranding‘s big draw was that no one quite knew what was going on, and what little we were shown was so bizarre we had more questions than answers. I’m not going to say this new trailer cleared anything up at all, but at least we got to see some gameplay. The combat looks none too exciting, but Norman Reedus’s character, Sam, is implied to have some pretty diverse traveling mechanics, such as the ability to make bridges with ladders and to lay down his own climbing gear.

Still, it leaves more questions than answers, and most of the story beats are still pretty opaque. Presumably after a three-year campaign of nothing but the bizarre imagery and vague hints, Sony and Kojima are still not ready to give up the goods yet.

There is one thing we now know for certain: when the game’s coming out. The release date for the game, November 8, was leaked earlier today when the PS4 pre-order page briefly went live. The same page also revealed what kinds of pre-order bonuses you’ll get, and at first I didn’t think they could be real because they’re just items from Sam’s person painted gold.

Death Stranding Special Edition is up at Best Buy along with standard ($69.99/$59.99) https://t.co/23dvsQCNvU pic.twitter.com/liQEVqC3RZ

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 29, 2019

Another Collector’s Edition that surfaced after the trailer dropped shows that, among other bits of in-game bling, you’ll get a BB pod — in the same floating-fetus carrier Sam carries on his front in the game like a baby kangaroo. If nothing else, that’ll be a hell of a conversation piece if visiting guests see that on your shelf.

Yes the DEATH STRANDING collector's edition comes with a BB Pod baby statue. ? pic.twitter.com/1oElq23VUf

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 29, 2019

Hopefully Sony will show off more Death Stranding gameplay particulars later this year. We already know the company is skipping E3, so it’s anyone’s guess when that will happen.