Hideo Kojima was at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, earlier this week to present the latest trailer for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. The standard version of the highly awaited sequel to Death Stranding is now confirmed for release on June 26, 2025, with pre-orders set to go live on March 17.
The 10-minute long trailer, which Kojima told the audience he directed personally, takes a deeper look into the game’s story with a theme music composed by French music video director Woodkid. Kojima was also joined on stage by Troy Baker and Norman Reedus, part of Death Stranding 2’s cast.
Returning characters, a more darker tale
Hosted by Playstation Global Content Communications Manager Kristen Zitani, Kojima’s SXSW panel said the game’s core message had changed from what players saw in the first installment. The original Death Stranding carried the tagline “We must reconnect,” but the sequel reverses this idea with the phrase: “We should not have connected.”
This video — the original footage is from the DS2 pre-order trailer, which I structured, edited, and directed. The re-edit was done by Hirasawa, our lead for the in-game cutscenes, and the typography for the lyrics was handled by Hashiguchi, who’s in charge of the in-game UI. All… https://t.co/kN9m1X5RUg
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 15, 2025
Kojima explained the “change of perspective” was influenced by his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he said people will understand more about what he talked about by playing the upcoming title.
The trailer opens with a tense argument between two characters, one of whom is Neil, played by Italian actor Luca Marinelli. The sequence then transitions to Norman Reedus’s character, Sam Porter Bridges, as he walkes through several environments, facing rain, avalanches, and tries to battle terrifying creatures, with an infant strapped to his torso.
The game’s cast includes returning and new characters; Léa Seydoux reprises her role as Fragile, while George Miller appears as Tarman. Troy Baker returns as Higgs, and Elle Fanning takes on the role of Tomorrow.
Other actors include Fatih Akin as Dollman, Shioli Kutsuna as Rainy, Alastair Duncan as The President, Alissa Jung as Lucy, Nicholas Winding Refn as Heartman, and Debra Wilson as Doctor.
One eerie moment Kojima’s fans loved in the trailer was Neil wearing a bandana reminiscent of Solid Snake, the main protagonist from Kojima Productions and Konami’s beloved Metal Gear Solid series. The lightning flashes on Neil’s face with a grey bandana that shape-shifts into a skull and back, made him almost look exactly like David.
Kojima’s love for the DS2 Collector’s edition
The Death Stranding 2 Collector’s Edition comes at a whopping $229, but with a 15-inch statue of the Magellan Man, a fusion of the DHV Magellan ship and one of the game’s monstrous tar-like entities, which Kojima said he “absolutely loves.”
The statue was designed by Entei Ryu, with full production overseen by Yoji Shinkawa, Kojima Productions’ long serving art director. Kojima said he personally visited a factory in China to inspect the mass production process, to make sure it met his standards.
Zitani asked what was his favorite thing in the edition aside from the Magellan Man, to which Kojima responded: “I love the doorman. Three inches. I’m going to need everyone to hang them where you can. The quality is very high.”
On his best scene featuring Norman Reedus, the game dev talked about how tough it was filming during the COVID-19 pandemic and that is why he asked Reedus to “cry a lot” during his performances.
“We’ve been shooting for about three years. At the beginning, it was really tough because of the pandemic,” Kojima said. “There were so many scenes where he had to cry, and I asked him to cry.”
At the end of the event, he announced an upcoming orchestral concert tour, featuring live performances of the Death Stranding soundtracks in cities on several continents.
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