Kojima celebrated the 7th anniversary of Death Stranding: the franchise already has 28 million players
Exactly seven years ago, on November 8, 2019, Death Stranding was released on PlayStation 4 - Hideo Kojima's first game after leaving Konami. The project was divided into a cult project and a “courier simulator”, but time put everything in its place: on the day of the anniversary, Kojima published an appeal to the community and announced that the franchise’s audience had reached 28 million “porters” - that’s what couriers are called in the game, and fans adopted this word for themselves.
In a celebratory post, the developer thanked all the Sams around the world and included several anniversary posters. The calculation was carried out for all console and PC versions of games, as well as taking into account free access through subscription services - the original Death Stranding, the extended edition of the Director's Cut and the sequel Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
From five million copies to 28 million players
The series grew in steps. In March 2021, sales of the first part exceeded 5 million copies - this is the latest official sales figure. In November 2022, Kojima Productions reported 10 million players including subscriptions, in March 2025 - 20 million, and in the summer of 2026 the counter showed 27 million. The franchise has now reached 28.
- March 2021 - 5 million copies of Death Stranding sold;
- November 2022 - 10 million players, including PS Plus and Game Pass;
- March 2025 - 20 million players;
- November 2026 - 28 million players worldwide.
What's up with the franchise now?
The second part, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, was released on PS5 in June 2025, and on March 19, 2026 it reached PC - Steam and Epic Games Store. The port received “extremely positive” status: 95% positive reviews based on approximately 28 thousand ratings. Director's Cut has more reviews - over 70 thousand, and the overall rating remains at 92%.
Kojima, meanwhile, is not stopping: the studio is already working on OD, a horror game co-authored with Xbox Game Studios, and the third Death Stranding is looming on the horizon, which the game designer periodically hints at on social networks. Judging by the dynamics of the “porters”, the audience will be even larger by this time.
Source: ixbt.games