Sony had no say in Death Stranding’s release on Xbox PC Game Pass

505 Games is the responsible party for the Xbox PC Game Pass deal, says Sony.
Death Stranding logo next to the game's protagonist, Samuel Porter Bridges

Death Stranding is coming to Xbox PC Game Pass on August 23, which is kind of a shocker, considering how Sony put a ton of work and support into Kojima Production’s first-ever game, and the Japanese gaming giant kind of antagonizes Microsoft’s game pass deal. However, a recent statement from Sony clarifies that the company had nothing to do with Death Stranding coming to PC Game Pass.

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A spokesperson from SIE who spoke to the Pushsquare team had these words to say:

“Matters relating to the PC release of Death Stranding are managed by Kojima Productions and 505 Games.”

The official announcement for the game’s addition to the PC Game Pass came from Antonela Pounder, Director of Global Community from 505 Games, with these sentences:

“Welcome, Porters! Today, we at Kojima Productions and 505 Games are incredibly excited to announce that Death Stranding is launching on August 23rd with PC Game Pass. Keep your eyes on @XboxGamePassPC Twitter for updates on exactly when you can play, as well as the official 505 Games and Kojima Productions social media channels.”

Even though Sony owns the intellectual property of Death Stranding, the company’s name isn’t even mentioned once in the announcement, which lasts an entire blog post.

This isn’t the first time something Kojima-related goes Xbox ways, though. Death Stranding’s creator partnered up with Microsoft to “make his dream game”, however, the experienced game maker also assured fans by saying “Please be assured that we continue to have a very good partnership with PlayStation as well.”

These events might further strain the already tense relationship between Sony and Microsoft. Things were already heated between the two gaming giants and flames rose higher when Sony spoke up about the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, stating that Call of Duty becoming exclusive would unbalance the market entirely.

Sony has also defended that Call of Duty, being the monstrous franchise it is, directly impacts gamers’ console choices. Microsoft replied by claiming that Sony has paid game developers to block content off of Microsoft’s Game Pass.

Even though it will come out on the PC Game Pass, Death Stranding will not be released on the Xbox Game Pass for consoles.

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