Death Stranding Sells 5 Million Copies, PS5 Director's Cut Will Expand The Social Strand System

Death Stranding, from Hideo Kojima and his team at Kojima Productions, has sold 5 million copies across PlayStation 4 and PC as of March 2021. Publishing boss Jay Boor shared the statistic with GI.biz, saying the game is doing "quite well" in the market.

Part of the appeal of Death Stranding, Boor said, is its "social strand system" which allows players to connect with others and have a more social experience in a single-player game. Boor said Kojima once said he is prone to loneliness, and Boor believes that some in the gaming community can relate.

"When they're alone playing video games in their living room, they don't feel like they fit into society or their community. So when people play this game they realize people like them exist all over the world. Knowing that even though I'm lonely, there are other people like me--and that makes you feel at ease. That's what I want people to feel when they play this game," he said.

The upcoming director's cut of Death Stranding, which launches in September, will "expand" on the social strand system, and Boor said more details will come later. The director's cut also includes visual and performance updates based on the PS5 architecture, while there are new missions, storylines, weapons, vehicles, and equipment, along with a racing mode that has leaderboards.

Kojima's next game might come to Xbox thanks to a deal with Microsoft, but this is not confirmed.

For more, check out GameSpot's rundown of everything in the Death Stranding Director's Cut and what additional Director's Cuts we want to see from Sony in the future.