Death Stranding iOS Release Date Announced, 50% Off If You Preorder

With the iPhone 15 Pro line, Apple is making a concerted effort to expand into gaming. If you happen to be an owner of that phone--or the bigger Pro Max version--and you're looking to justify your purchase with a AAA game to push the high-tech internal hardware, you can save 50% on a preorder for Death Stranding ahead of its release on January 31. The regular price on this weird post-apocalyptic postal game is $40, but its preorder price is $20.

If you never played it on PlayStation or PC, Death Stranding is a strangely meditative game set in a world where humanity is on the verge of being wiped out. A mysterious extinction event almost destroyed humanity, and as Sam Porter, it's up to you to travel the land and form new connections while avoiding the bad weather. Trust us, you really don't want to be caught in Death Stranding's rain.

The game also has plenty of action, so when you're not avoiding strange phantasms around you, you'll be duking it out with bandits and sinister organizations. As a Hideo Kojima-directed game, Death Stranding also has a lot of story to tell through conversations and cutscenes.

Like other games headed to Apple devices, there are touchscreen controls to make use of in this title. Nothing beats traditional controls, and for a quick add-on to get a more familiar feel out of your gaming experience, you can grab a Backbone for your iPhone.

• Backbone PlayStation edition -- $100
• Backbone Xbox edition -- $100
• Backbone carrying case -- $25

These controller cradles have all the inputs you'll need for a modern game, and can be attached easily. You won't even need to insert batteries, as they connect through your iPhone's USB-C port and are powered by the phone battery. These are available in two distinct styles, so you can pick up either an Xbox or PlayStation-influenced Backbone depending on your tastes.