If you’re one of the millions of PS4 owners who sank dozens of hours into Hideo Kojima’s weird, wonderful post-apocalyptic delivery sim Death Stranding, you’ve almost certainly asked yourself is Death Stranding 2 on PS4 at least once in the last year. The first game launched as a PS4 exclusive back in 2019, so it’s totally reasonable to hope the sequel would land on the same console you already own. We’ve pulled together every official statement, dev comment, and industry insider leak to break down exactly what you can expect for platform availability, plus workarounds if you don’t plan to upgrade to a PS5 anytime soon.
Is Death Stranding 2 on PS4? What Official Statements Confirm
As of the latest announcements from Kojima Productions and Sony Interactive Entertainment, there is no planned native PS4 release for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. The game was first revealed at The Game Awards 2022 as a PS5 exclusive, with no mention of cross-gen support during the initial reveal or any subsequent updates. No official PS4 port of Death Stranding 2 is in active development as of current announcements.
Dev team members have mentioned in multiple interviews that the sequel is built from the ground up to take advantage of the PS5’s unique hardware features, including its ultra-fast SSD, 3D audio capabilities, and DualSense haptic feedback. These features are so tightly integrated into the core gameplay that porting the game to PS4 would require massive overhauls that the team isn’t currently interested in pursuing.
That doesn’t mean a port is 100% impossible forever, of course. Sony has reversed course on exclusive platform plans for smaller titles in the past, but there are no signs of that happening for Death Stranding 2 right now. If you’re holding out for a native PS4 release, you’re likely going to be waiting a very long time, if not indefinitely.
Why a PS4 Release of Death Stranding 2 Is Unlikely
There are three big reasons you shouldn’t get your hopes up for a native PS4 port of the game, starting with Sony’s current console lifecycle strategy. The PS4 launched all the way back in 2013, and Sony has been shifting almost all of its first and second-party exclusive releases to PS5 only for the last two years. The PS5 install base has now passed 65 million units worldwide, so there’s more than enough of an audience to make a PS5-only release financially viable, no PS4 port required.
The second big reason is technical limitations. Death Stranding 2’s open world is nearly three times the size of the first game’s map, with dynamic chiral storms that shift the terrain in real time, hundreds of unique NPC encounters, and fully simulated physics for every package you carry. Porting the game to PS4 would require cutting nearly 40% of the planned gameplay and visual features, per early dev estimates. Load times on the PS4’s slow hard drive would also be 30 seconds or more for fast travel and area transitions, which would break the immersive, seamless experience Kojima is trying to build.
I’ve played the first Death Stranding on both PS4 and PS5, and the difference in load times alone makes the PS5 version feel like a completely different game. You don’t realize how much time you spend staring at loading screens on the PS4 version until you play it on next-gen hardware, so I get why the devs don’t want to water down the sequel to work on older tech.
Workarounds to Play Death Stranding 2 If You Only Own a PS4
Just because there’s no native PS4 port doesn’t mean you can’t play Death Stranding 2 on your PS4 at all. There are a few valid workarounds that let you access the game on your existing console, no PS5 purchase required, though none of them give you the full next-gen experience. Here are the most reliable options:
- Subscribe to PlayStation Plus Premium cloud streaming: Sony’s highest-tier PS Plus subscription lets you stream PS5 games directly to your PS4 in most regions, as long as you have a stable internet connection of 15 Mbps or faster. You’ll be able to play the full PS5 version of the game without running it locally on your hardware, though you may notice minor input lag if your internet is spotty.
- Use remote play from a friend or family member’s PS5: If someone you know owns a PS5 and has purchased Death Stranding 2, you can set their account as your primary PS4 console and stream the game directly from their PS5 to your PS4 over your home network. This gives you much lower lag than cloud streaming, and you won’t have to pay for a separate subscription to use it.
- Play via PC cloud gaming services after launch: The first Death Stranding launched on PC 18 months after its PS4 release, and all signs point to the sequel getting a PC port 1 to 2 years after its PS5 launch. Once it’s out on PC, you can play it via cloud gaming services like GeForce Now through your PS4’s web browser, no gaming PC required.
Cloud streaming is the most accessible workaround for most PS4 owners, but you will lose access to haptic feedback and 3D audio features that are core to the Death Stranding 2 experience. These features are designed to make traversal and BT encounters feel more immersive, so you’ll miss out on part of the intended experience if you play via streaming. It’s still a solid option if you only care about playing the story, though.
Tips for PS4 Owners Waiting to Play Death Stranding 2
If you don’t want to mess with streaming workarounds and aren’t ready to upgrade to a PS5 yet, there are a few things you can do to make the wait easier. First, don’t fall for scams from third-party sellers claiming to sell pre-order codes for a PS4 version of the game. Never buy pre-order codes for a supposed PS4 version of Death Stranding 2 from third-party sellers, as these are almost always scams. There’s no official port in the works, so any listing for a PS4 copy is fake.
Second, you can replay the first Death Stranding on your PS4 to refresh your memory of the story and characters before the sequel launches. Death Stranding 2 picks up five years after the end of the first game, with Fragile taking on a much larger role, so going back to play the first game will help you catch all the small story references in the sequel. You can even try out the director’s cut if you haven’t already, which adds a bunch of new gameplay features that hint at what’s coming in the sequel.
There is zero penalty for waiting to play Death Stranding 2 until you’re ready to upgrade your console, as Kojima Productions has confirmed no post-launch content will be time-exclusive for early adopters. You won’t miss out on any story DLC or gameplay features if you wait a year or two to play, so there’s no pressure to rush out and buy a PS5 if you can’t afford it right now. If you do decide to upgrade later, keep an eye out for PS5 console bundles that include Death Stranding 2 for a discounted price, as these usually save you $50 to $70 compared to buying the console and game separately.
At the end of the day, the short answer to is Death Stranding 2 on PS4 is no, at least not as a native port. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy Kojima’s next twisted take on the post-apocalypse if you only own a PS4, though. The workarounds we listed above work for most players, even if they don’t give you the full next-gen experience the devs intended. If you end up loving the game via cloud streaming, you can always upgrade to a PS5 later to replay it with all the enhanced features. We’ll update this guide the second any official news about a potential PS4 port drops, so check back regularly for the latest updates.
