Death Stranding Director's Cut release date set for September 24

The Death Stranding Director's Cut release date is September 24, putting the PS5-exclusive upgrade just over two months out.

Sony and Kojima Productions confirmed the release date at today's State of Play presentation. A new trailer also gave us a much better look at what the Director's Cut actually adds and changes compared to the base game. The short answer is: a lot.

Naturally, the whole game has been visually remastered for PS5, and there'll be some new story missions added in as well. You'd expect that much from a Director's Cut coming to a new console. More surprising is the array of mechanical upgrades in the upcoming re-release. Today's trailer teased new enemies to fight using expanded combat mechanics including an upgraded melee and new guns, all of which you'll get to test at the new simulated firing range. 

Death Stranding is fundamentally a game about moving things from point A to point B, so the Director's Cut has also added new delivery tools to help you transport deliveries more quickly. There's a support skeleton (presumably to increase your carrying capacity or keep you steady), a jump ramp to help you clear gaps, a buddy bot who'll carry things alongside you, and a catapult for when you really don't care about that 'handle with care' label. We can't wait to see what absurd transport systems people build with these things, and calling it now; The buddy bot is going to be the next internet darling after the pot boys from Elden Ring. 

The most left-field addition may be the Fragile Circuit race track, which is exactly what it sounds like. This racing side mode looks remarkably in-depth, with a range of vehicles and tracks. It's even got ghosts to race against in time trials. Death Stranding has always been a bizarre amalgamation of profoundly video game-y ideas playing off unabashedly heavy and cinematic exposition, so screw it, why not put the bones of a racing game in there? 

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Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.