Death Stranding Director's Cut release date set for September 24

The Death Stranding Director's Cut release date is September 24, putting the PS5-exclusive upgrade just over two months out.

Sony and Kojima Productions confirmed the release date at today's State of Play presentation. A new trailer also gave us a much better look at what the Director's Cut actually adds and changes compared to the base game. The short answer is: a lot.

Naturally, the whole game has been visually remastered for PS5, and there'll be some new story missions added in as well. You'd expect that much from a Director's Cut coming to a new console. More surprising is the array of mechanical upgrades in the upcoming re-release. Today's trailer teased new enemies to fight using expanded combat mechanics including an upgraded melee and new guns, all of which you'll get to test at the new simulated firing range. 

Death Stranding is fundamentally a game about moving things from point A to point B, so the Director's Cut has also added new delivery tools to help you transport deliveries more quickly. There's a support skeleton (presumably to increase your carrying capacity or keep you steady), a jump ramp to help you clear gaps, a buddy bot who'll carry things alongside you, and a catapult for when you really don't care about that 'handle with care' label. We can't wait to see what absurd transport systems people build with these things, and calling it now; The buddy bot is going to be the next internet darling after the pot boys from Elden Ring. 

The most left-field addition may be the Fragile Circuit race track, which is exactly what it sounds like. This racing side mode looks remarkably in-depth, with a range of vehicles and tracks. It's even got ghosts to race against in time trials. Death Stranding has always been a bizarre amalgamation of profoundly video game-y ideas playing off unabashedly heavy and cinematic exposition, so screw it, why not put the bones of a racing game in there? 

Death stranding tips | Death Stranding cameos | How to get more likes in Death Stranding | Death Stranding EX grenades | Death Stranding birthday | Death Stranding aphenphosmphobia | Death Stranding fast travel | Death Stranding weapons | Death Stranding holograms | Death Standing preppers, gear and upgrades | How long to beat Death Stranding? | Death Stranding ending | Death Stranding DLC 

Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

Read more
Death Stranding 2 Collector's Edition
Hideo Kojima reveals Death Stranding 2: On the Beach release date, and the Collector's Edition includes exactly what I predicted it would
Death Stranding 2 PS5 screenshot
Death Stranding 2: Everything we know so far
Image of the Death Stranding 2 On The Beach Collector's Edition on a purple GamesRadar background.
Death Stranding 2 collector's edition is a sight to behold and here's where to pre-order yours
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima quietly reveals 10 seconds of new Death Stranding 2 footage as what looks like the next trailer goes to "main sound mixing"
Death Stranding 2 trailer showing Sam shooting at an enemy
Hideo Kojima aims to beat the ‘walking simulator’ allegations as Death Stranding 2 releases combat-heavy trailer
Death Stranding 2 PS5 screenshot
If you were wondering where the new Death Stranding 2 trailer was yesterday, it looks like Hideo Kojima is still working on it
Latest in Open World
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 is Steam's latest viral hit – an open-world drug dealing simulator with 98% positive reviews, co-op, and a free sample to get you started
a spacesuit wearing person looks at a cool dinosaur skeleton
No Man's Sky's latest free update lets you live out your childhood dreams of digging up dinosaur bones
Batman looking over the city during Batman: Arkham City, one of the best PS3 games.
The PS2 Batman Begins game was considered such a "disaster" that Christopher Nolan turned down a Dark Knight-inspired game
Red Dead Redemption screenshot of protagonist John Marston aiming a pistol
Ex GTA 6 dev says free and live service games are "eating everyone's time," and combined with "open world fatigue," it's getting harder to make players explore
Mindseye
"There are so many games": Legendary dev behind GTA 3, GTA 4, GTA 5 and many more says the industry needs to "get smarter" about what players want
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says
Latest in News
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil's Charlie Cox isn't in the Avengers: Doomsday cast list – but Marvel fans have an idea about how he might still show up
Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Simu Liu had the best reaction to Shang-Chi’s announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, but fans think it's "criminal" there hasn’t been a direct sequel
Mario faces the camera with a thumbs up pose in Super Smash Bros. Ulimate.
Nintendo Direct March 2025 live – all the Switch news, trailers, and reveals as they happen
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady's rumored single-player Batman game is in development for PC, PS5, Xbox, and "the next generation of consoles"
The Last of Us Part 1
The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann wanted to make sure the first game "was complete" because "I wasn't sure they would ever let me direct a game again"
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode