Days Gone Beats Death Stranding as Biggest UK PS4 Launch of 2019; Debuts Behind CoD: Modern Warfare

Kojima’s Death Stranding is Sony’s second-biggest new IP and PlayStation 4 exclusive of this year in the UK, only being beaten by Bend Studios’ Days Gone.

The highly-anticipated new ‘stranding’ game from Hideo Kojima debuted at the second spot in the UK boxed charts, while Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare retains its first spot in the UK charts for its 3^rd week in a row. According to Gamesindustry.biz, Death Stranding sold 36% fewer units than Days Gone did when it launched back in April of this year. Granted, these sales only include retail sales and downloads aren't included.

Death Stranding’s debut has Luigi’s Mansion 3 dropping down from the 2^nd to the 4^th spot on the UK boxed chart with a 59% sales drops week-on-week. Nintendo’s latest Luigi adventure launched on October 31^st.

Hideo Kojima recently had the chance to discuss the early Death Stranding reception among critics, and while the game’s average score is quite high, there have been some low scores as well, mostly coming from publications in the US. According to Kojima, this can be attributed to the preference for first-person-shooters in the US, whereas Death Stranding, in his own words, 'flies higher'.

"I must say that the game received rave reviews, especially in Europe and Japan. Here in the United States, however, we have had stronger criticisms", the creator of Death Stranding and the Metal Gear series said in an interview with Italian publication Tgcom24. “Perhaps it is a difficult game to understand for a certain type of critic and audience. Americans are great fans of first-person shooters and Death Stranding isn't one, it flies higher."

Death Stranding is available globally now exclusively for the PlayStation 4. The game will also be released for PC next year through Steam and the Epic Game Store.

From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes an all-new, genre-defying experience. Sam Bridges must brave a world utterly transformed by the Death Stranding. Carrying the disconnected remnants of our future in his hands, he embarks on a journey to reconnect the shattered world one step at a time.