Death Stranding has officially gone gold, and you won't need a PS Plus subscription to use its online features

(Image credit: Hideo Kojima (via Twitter))

Death Stranding has officially gone gold just over a month ahead of its release date on 8 November, 2019. In case you don't know, going gold means that the game has officially reached its final stage of completion and is ready to be shipped out for release. Kojima Productions and Hideo Kojima posted tweets revealing the news with pictures showing Kojima holding the master copy of Death Stranding (featuring signature handprints), and the team behind the game commemorating the moment.

Got the gold master https://t.co/bCaXp4T43l’s been 3years9m since the studio’s https://t.co/LWCSa0VDGq to mark the 1st step as the new Kojima Productions.Thanks to Sony,Guerrilla,cast members,musicians,artists, staff & fans for supporting us from the start & for all the way thru! pic.twitter.com/LZMlzG7lexSeptember 26, 2019

During PlayStation's recent State of Play, it was announced that Death Stranding is getting a collector's edition PS4 bundle featuring a console with handprints and a BB-inspired controller in a particularly pee-like shade of yellow. Interestingly, recent pre-orders that have surfaced on retail sites show that you won't need a PS Plus subscription in order to use Death Stranding's online features.

As spotted by MP1st (via VG247), a listing for a limited edition PS4 Pro pre-order on GAME UK's website shows that a PS Plus subscription is not required on the console's box. Death Stranding features a rather different take on online features, with a light online system - kind of like the one featured in Dark Souls - where you can see traces and tracks left behind by other players in the game's world. It also has a "likes" feature where you can essentially approve of the objects other players have left behind.

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This is welcome news for anyone who thought they might have to shell out for a subscription this November to get stuck into the "Strand" game. Thanks to our last look at Death Stranding during the Tokyo Game Show 2019, we're finally starting to understand what Kojima Productions "connected" experience is all about... well, at least a little. There was a lot of footage showing Norman Reedus getting up to all kinds of shenanigans, from messing about in front of a mirror, to eating bugs, and taking a dip in a hot spring. For the most part, as with any Kojima game, you'll have to play to really find out.

Catching up on all things Death Stranding? Here's 54 things you might have missed from the Death Stranding gameplay stream, from blood grenades to Norman Reedus singing in a hot spring.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.