Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2, which came out last year and was one of the most hyped titles on the Playstation 5, has reportedly sold over 2.5 million copies so far across both PS5 and PC, which is impressive but not quite the blockbuster AAA hit Sony wanted. According to reports by Alinea Analytics, Death Stranding 2 sold around 1.8 million copies on the PS5 and roughly 700,000 units on the PC platform. Also, the estimated total revenue generated from both platforms is $170 million so far, with the first two months seeing the biggest boost in sales, as expected.
And although Death Stranding 2 has been far more critically acclaimed than it’s predecessor, the first game has sold a total of 5 million copies so far with around 71% of it’s sales coming from PlayStation, 25% from Steam and the remaining 4% from the Xbox consoles. Also, the first Death Stranding had generated $243 million in nearly six years, although it’s unfair to compare the two as the first game has been available for a lot longer.
The less-than-expected sales of the Death Stranding titles is likely a reason for Sony dropping Kojima’s Physint recently, which was previously being touted as a sort of spiritual successor to the iconic Metal Gear Solid series. And Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics has also shared his insights on the whole situation, stating:
“From a strictly financial perspective, though, I can understand Sony’s position. In a vacuum, anyway. PR and optics still matter. Ballpark math: word on the street is that the first Death Stranding cost about $100 million to make, and the second somewhere in the $150 million – $200 million ballpark (longer dev cycle, COVID, and all that). Depending on marketing overhead and the opportunity cost of pulling those Guerrilla developers onto Death Stranding, the franchise has almost certainly broken even–but not by much.”
