Death Stranding is one of Japan’s biggest launches of the year

Death Stranding is off to a strong start in Japan, with first week sales in excess of 185,000 copies.

According to Famitsu data, the PS4 exclusive enjoyed a better first week than the likes of Luigi’s Mansion 3 (150k), The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (141k) and fellow new PS4 IP Days Gone (114k) had in 2019.

Only games such as Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition (300k), Monster Hunter: World Iceborne (250k) and Persona 5 Royal (201k) have had stronger debuts than Death Stranding this year in Japan.

According to Game Data Library, Death Stranding’s debut is the biggest for a new IP in Japan this console generation, beating the likes of Judgement, Sekiro and Bloodborne.

In the UK, the Kojima Productions title was the second biggest PS4 exclusive this year, meaning it beat the likes of Concrete Genie and MediEvil. However, Death Stranding sold around 36% fewer UK boxed copies than Sony’s other big PS4 exclusive Days Gone managed in its launch week.

Death Stranding released on Friday, November 8. It’s available to buy now from retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, ShopTo and Game.

VGC’s Death Stranding review was published ahead of release.

A PC version of Death Stranding will launch in summer 2020. Publisher 505 has confirmed that Death Stranding PC will release for both Steam and the Epic Games Store.

VGC analysis has revealed that of the some 120 core developers who worked on the game at Kojima Productions, more than half also worked on Kojima’s final Konami title, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.