Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

One of Game Pass’ best titles leaves PC on August 15 and you don’t want to miss it

While Xbox Game Pass frequently adds new games to its library, some titles do leave the service every fifteen days. Sometimes, those games are fantastic and PC Game Pass will lose a heavy hitter on August 15: Death Stranding. If you aren’t familiar with this game, it, ironically, is a PlayStation console exclusive that’s part of Microsoft’s subscription service only on PC. Death Stranding first released on PS4 in November 2019 and tells a story about a man who is trying to reconnect a post-apocalyptic while dealing with lots of supernatural threats along the way.

Death Stranding
Kojima Productions

It didn’t come to PC until July 2020, before that was followed by Death Stranding: Director’s Cut for PC and PS5 in the following years. The version of the game that’s available through Xbox Game Pass is based on the July 2020 PC release, although it only came to PC Game Pass in August 2022. After a year on Microsoft’s subscription service, the deal is up, and it’s going to leave on August 15. Death Stranding is a game with a very compelling and socially relevant story and gameplay not quite like anything out there, so Game Pass subscribers who haven’t tried this game yet need to before it leaves the service soon. 

It’s all connected

Death Stranding follows the journey of Sam Porter Bridges, the adopted son of the President of the United Cities of America, as he attempts to reconnect what’s left of America with a Chiral Network and save his sister. Of course, this game has Kojima’s signature eccentricity, as Sam also carries around and starts forming a deeper connection with a baby in a pod (called a BB) that helps him avoid deadly creatures called BTs and gives him visions of a mysterious figure played by Mads Mikkelsen. On that note, Death Stranding has a stacked Hollywood cast as it stars people like Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Margaret Qualley and features characters modeled after Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and more. 

I’m not a huge fan of this game’s melodramatic dialogue exchanges and arduous pacing that leaves a lot of the most interesting reveals for the end. Still, it undeniably has some prescient themes about how important connection is, something that became even more apparent and relevant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Few video game writers can craft narratives that are as engaging and memorable as the ones in Hideo Kojima’s games. Though what I like most about Death Stranding is its gameplay, which isn’t quite like anything that came out before or since. 

For the most part, Death Stranding is a game about delivering packages. It initially seemed like a shocking change in style for the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series, but the connections become a bit clearer to me as I had to stealthily avoid BTs and saw the Metal Gear Solid V-level of freedom the game gives players in making deliveries. To maximize profits from deliveries, I have to balance all of the packages in Sam’s possession, keeping a close eye on the terrain, and finding the best ways to get Sam to his destination without damaging much of the goods he’s carrying.

Sam Bridges walks across a valley in Death Stranding.
Kojima Productions

The best open-world games make navigating through their worlds entertaining, and that’s almost the whole focus of Death Stranding’s gameplay. While balancing packages might not sound that exciting, there’s a fundamental intensity and satisfaction that happens with doing a delivery that I’ve never gotten from a game other than Death Stranding.

Then there’s its sensational multiplayer element eo, which allows players to build things that can help players navigate the world during their journeys. It reemphasizes the main theme of connection, and should help make the game feel fresh if you haven’t played Death Stranding since it launched in 2019. It’s a solid PC port too, so you don’t have to worry about the unexpected technical issues that sometimes plague these kinds of games.

While Death Stranding is leaving Game Pass, it’s not the last time you’ll hear of the series. At The Game Awards 2022, Hideo Kojima announced that a sequel, Death Stranding 2, is in development for PS5. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is also making its way to Mac sometime soon. As for the Xbox side of things, Hideo Kojima announced at Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase in 2022 that Xbox Game Studios is publishing one of his upcoming games.

If you’re an Xbox fan but have never played anything Hideo Kojima made before, Death Stranding is a great introduction to his work. Currently, players with a strong PC and Game Pass subscription have an easy way to try the critically beloved open-world game out, so don’t miss your chance to play Death Stranding before it leaves the service for an undisclosed amount of time — perhaps forever.

Death Stranding leaves Xbox Games Pass for PC on August 15

Editors' Recommendations

Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Xbox Game Pass adds one of 2022’s best racing games this month
A man leans against a car in Need for Speed Unbound.

Microsoft has revealed that games that will be coming to Xbox Game Pass throughout the rest of June and even into early July. While the list lacks any major exclusives or first-party games, a solid racing game from 2022 and some intriguing indies make it an interesting batch. Thankfully, the losses the service will suffer at the end of the month aren't too bad either.
The most notable game to hit Xbox Game Pass Ultimate during the back half of June will be Need for Speed Unbound. Coming to the service via its EA Play connection, this is a solid racing game that I gave a three-and-a-half-star review last year. At the time, I said it was "a surprisingly entertaining racer in a year that hasn’t seen much racing game excitement since Gran Turismo 7." On the indie side of things, The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales will be a day one Xbox Game Pass release on June 22. It's an isometric adventure game where the main gimmick is that players can enter the worlds of books they come across.
Former PlayStation console exclusive F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch will also come to Xbox Series X/S via Xbox Game Pass on June 27. This is the full list of titles you can expect to come to the subscription service between today and July 5.

Need for Speed Unbound -- June 22
The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales -- June 22
Bramble: The Mountain King -- June 27
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch -- June 27
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town -- June 29
Arcade Paradise -- July 3
Sword and Fairy: Together Forever -- July 5

Read more
You should play the year’s most beautiful game on Xbox Game Pass right now
Mimi paddles down a river in a kayak in Dordogne.

When I was a child, I hated Cape Cod. My parents would often spend a bulk of the summer there, which meant I did too -- until I was old enough to be left on my own. My frustrations about that routine came to a head one year when my parents said we were going to spend a full month on the Cape. I protested, saying that I didn’t want to waste so much of my summer away from my friends, but my requests were shot down. I remember the arguments clearly, but I’ve fully blocked out the actual month I spent there. It’s a lost memory in my most formative years.

Dordogne - Launch Trailer

Read more
It’s the last day of Nintendo’s April Indie Sale — don’t miss these 7 great games
hades best builds key art new cropped hed 1244036

Nintendo just hosted an Indie World showcase and previewed some exciting indie games like Rift of the Necrodancer, Blasphemous 2, and Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals. While the Nintendo Switch has always been a first-party, AAA-title machine, it's also become an indie powerhouse over the years and is home to some of the best small games on the market. To celebrate its stream, Nintendo just launched a weeklong sale on some of its top indie titles, including all-time greats like Celeste and Hades.

The sale kicked off on April 19 and runs until April 26 at midnight PT. While you have a good week to browse, here are seven excellent deals that you'll want to take advantage of before time's up.
Celeste -- $5 (75% off)

Read more