Bottom line: Nixxes and Kojima Productions revealed the PC release date for Death Stranding 2 earlier this month, and they have now published the full system requirements and technical details. Achieving high frame rates won't require the latest high-end GPUs, even without upscaling. However, for users who rely on the technology, Guerrilla has revealed a homegrown solution available alongside the usual options from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.
At minimum, the sequel to Hideo Kojima's post-apocalyptic open-world delivery simulator requires a GeForce GTX 1660 or an AMD RX 5500 XT, but achieving 60fps at 1080p necessitates at least an RTX 3060 or an RX 6800. Death Stranding 2's options menu will include a handheld graphics preset, optimized for devices such as the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally. The game requires 150GB of free storage space.
Meanwhile, the recommended settings list an RTX 3070 and an RX 6800 for achieving 60fps in 1440p without upscaling. For comparison, benchmarks of the original Death Stranding showed the RTX 3070 (or the very similar RTX 2080 Ti) comfortably exceeding 60 frames per second in native 4K. Although the sequel does not employ ray tracing, prior reviews demonstrate that it exhibits substantially more visual detail than its predecessor.
The upscaling methods users have come to expect are also here: Nvidia DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2 (DLSS 4.5 and XeSS 3 will likely require activation through control panels), but Nixxes also unveiled a new option. Pico, developed by Guerrilla Games for PlayStation 5 games that utilize its Decima engine, such as Death Stranding 2 and the Horizon series, will be available to PC users for the first time. While Nixxes did not specify how Pico differs from DLSS or FSR, it supports all GPUs and integrates with all frame generation options. All upscaling modes also support dynamic resolution scaling and super-sampled anti-aliasing.
Nixxes also clarified Death Stranding 2's ultrawide settings. Cutscenes are designed for a 21:9 aspect ratio, but gameplay also supports 32:9.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will be available on Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 19. Reviews for the original PlayStation 5 version were generally glowing. IGN, which awarded it a 9/10, described it as more action-packed than the first title, which many considered more of a walking simulator. Sometime next month, Sony will also reveal new gameplay features planned for the sequel's PS5 and PC versions.