Death Stranding surpasses 20 million players amid spike of Steam users presumably trying to finish it before the sequel

Just three months before Death Stranding 2: On the Beach comes out, the original Death Stranding has passed a huge milestone: over 20 million of us have played it.

Kojima tweets: "The number of 'Death Stranding' players has exceeded 20 million. Thank you very much. Sams from all over the world are still delivering. You are connecting the world."

That theme of connection is obviously central to Death Stranding. While it's got heavy political themes and we can draw a lot of parallels between the world of the game and the real one, one part of its meaning was recently revealed by Kojima himself.

"I thought I lost everything when I became alone nine years ago," he said recently, referring to his departure from Konami. It's hard to believe a developer as revered as Kojima could have so much self-doubt, but he did, and that fuelled Death Stranding. Ultimately, he found that we were willing to go wherever he took us. "I had something very important, which was connection with people."

With regard to how many people have enjoyed Death Stranding, it's important to note that Kojima states there are over 20 million "players," not 20 million sales. My housemate bought the game and I played his copy, so we'd count as two players but only one sale. So, 20 million isn't a perfect indicator of how much money the game has made, but it clearly did well enough to justify a sequel.

That being said, the Steam numbers for Death Stranding shot up in March, meaning people are either buying it or replaying it ahead of the sequel. That sequel is just three months away, and it's also achieved a milestone recently: all the recording and sound mixing is now complete. Kojima has consistently shared these kinds of updates, like when the Japanese dub was finished and when actors wrapped up filming.

While we wait for June 26, check out all the new games of 2025 so you've got something to play in the next couple of months.