After spending 60+ hours delivering cargo, rebuilding connection points across the ravaged United Cities of America, and sitting through Kojima’s signature wild final cutscene in the 2026 release of Death Stranding 2, you’re probably wondering what’s next. The good news is you don’t have to say goodbye to Sam, Fragile, and the rest of the crew just yet. Death Stranding 2 new game plus offers a fresh way to experience the game while carrying over all the hard work you put into your first run, plus a whole host of exclusive content you won’t find on a standard playthrough. I’ve put 30+ hours into my own NG+ file so far, so I’ve broken down everything you need to know to make the most of your second run.
How to Unlock Death Stranding 2 New Game Plus in 2026
If you’re worried you need to collect every single memory chip, deliver every lost cargo, and max out all prepper bonds to unlock NG+, you can breathe easy. The only hard requirement is completing the main story campaign, all the way through the final credits sequence, no extra side content required. That said, there are a few optional pre-completion tasks that will make your NG+ run far smoother, and I highly recommend knocking them out before you start your new file.
Once you’ve wrapped the main story, you’ll get a pop-up prompt on your main menu asking if you want to start your NG+ file. You can still go back to your original save file at any time to finish leftover side content, so don’t stress about missing anything when you confirm the new file creation. The process only takes 10 to 15 seconds, and your original save remains completely untouched.
What Carries Over to Your NG+ Run, and What Doesn’t
One of the biggest draws of Death Stranding 2 new game plus is getting to keep almost all the progress you earned in your first playthrough, so you don’t have to grind for basic upgrades all over again. All your unlocked equipment, crafting recipes, and prepper connection levels transfer over immediately, as do any cosmetic items you earned from events or side missions. Your chiral network access also stays fully unlocked across the entire map, so you don’t have to re-connect each region one by one like you did in your first run. That cuts down the early game grind by at least 10 hours right off the bat.
That said, there are a few items that reset for balance purposes. Story-specific key items, like the pendant Fragile gives you in the opening act, are removed from your inventory so the story can play out naturally without plot holes. You’ll also lose any active delivery orders you had queued up, but you can re-accept them in your NG+ run if you want to re-do them for higher ranks. Another small thing to note: shared structures from other players reset too, so you’ll get a fresh set of player-built bridges, roads, and safe houses to interact with on your new run.
I was annoyed at first when I realized my stack of 50 lost cargo packages didn’t carry over, but it made sense once I realized most of those were tied to first-playthrough side quests that don’t activate again until you hit the corresponding story beat. It’s a small tradeoff for all the other progress you get to keep, and you’ll earn far more lost cargo rewards early on in NG+ anyway.
Exclusive NG+ Content You Won’t Find Anywhere Else
Kojima Productions didn’t just make Death Stranding 2 new game plus a repeat of the first run with better gear. They added a ton of exclusive content that makes replaying the game feel like a brand new experience in 2026. First off, you’ll get access to hard and very hard difficulty modes that aren’t available on standard playthroughs, which adjust BT aggression, timefall damage, and cargo durability to make deliveries far more challenging. If you’re a player who loves the survival aspect of the game, these modes are an absolute blast, even if they’ll make you lose a few cargo packages early on.
There are also 12 exclusive NG+ side missions that tie up loose ends from the main plot, including a handful of missions that let you play as Fragile for short stretches, something you can only do in NG+. These missions don’t affect the main story, but they add a lot of extra context for character choices that felt vague in the first playthrough. You’ll also unlock exclusive cosmetic skins for all your equipment, including a transparent reverse trike skin and a chrome exoskeleton, as you complete these extra missions.
If you want to see the full list of exclusive NG+ content added in the post-launch patch, you can check the official 2026 Death Stranding 2 content update notes for a full breakdown of all hidden missions and unlocks. The devs have already teased that more exclusive NG+ content will be added in the upcoming summer 2026 DLC, so there’s even more to look forward to if you finish the current content early.
Another underrated exclusive perk is the NG+ fast travel upgrade, which lets you fast travel to any connected prepper shelter at any time, no matter how much cargo you’re carrying. The only catch is you have to pay a small chiral crystal fee for each trip, but if you’re replaying the game to hit S rank on all deliveries, this upgrade will save you dozens of hours of travel time through rough terrain.
Tips to Get the Most Out of Your NG+ Playthrough
You can absolutely blast through the main story in 10 hours or less if you use all your endgame gear, but you’ll miss out on most of the fun of NG+ if you do that. I recommend taking your time to explore parts of the map you skipped in your first run, especially the northern mountain region that only unlocks halfway through the story. With your maxed out gear, you can reach areas that were nearly impossible to access when you had low-level equipment, and there are tons of hidden collectibles tucked away in those hard-to-reach spots. I recommend checking out community run tier lists for the best Death Stranding 2 new game plus build setups if you want to optimize your run for S rank deliveries.
If you’re playing NG+ to grind for S ranks on all deliveries, make sure you prioritize using your level 3 stabilizer and all-terrain boots to minimize cargo damage. You can also team up with other NG+ players to build shared roads across the map, which will make long distance deliveries far faster for everyone in your server. Just remember that you won’t be able to pair with players who are on their first playthrough, so you’ll only be matched with other NG+ users for shared content.
One mistake I made on my first NG+ run was skipping cutscenes right away. A lot of the cutscenes have small, subtle changes in NG+ that hint at upcoming story DLC, so it’s worth sitting through them at least once to catch those little details. You can always skip them on subsequent runs if you want to speed through the story again. It’s also a good idea to turn on the new NG+ cargo marker setting, which highlights any lost cargo that counts towards exclusive NG+ rewards, so you don’t accidentally miss it while you’re out on deliveries.
At the end of the day, Death Stranding 2 new game plus is more than just a lazy replay mode for completionists. It’s a love letter to fans who spent hours connecting the world in their first run, offering enough new content and quality of life upgrades to make the second playthrough feel just as rewarding as the first. Whether you’re here to grind for S ranks, play the exclusive side missions, or just run around the map with your maxed out gear without worrying about basic survival, there’s something for every type of player in the 2026 NG+ update. Just make sure you stock up on extra chiral crystals before you start your new run, you’re going to need them.
