There may not be traditional online multiplayer in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but you can still connect with your friends by forming Strand Contracts once you've made it far enough in the game. Strand Contracts are sort of like a party system in Death Stranding 2, allowing you to form a group with players at similar points in the story.
With the help of Strand Contracts, you can see your friends' items and structures across Mexico and Australia. You'll still be able to grab lost cargo and use structures built by other random online players, but your friends' stuff will be prioritized over everything else. There's only so much space on the Chiral Network — especially without certain APAS enhancements — so forming Strand Contracts with your favorite porters is a smart idea.
How to Submit Items and Weapons for Online Aid Requests in Death Stranding 2
Other players can request items, weapons, and materials in Death Stranding 2 with Aid Requests. Here's how you can give them what they want.
How to Form Strand Contracts in Death Stranding 2
Strand Contracts allow you to choose which players' items will show up in your game world when playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. To find the Strand Contracts menu, pause the game and open the Social Strand Service menu. From there, navigate to the Bridge Links tab.
The Bridge Links tab shows you all of your active Strand Contracts and any new connections you've made while exploring the world. At the bottom of the page is a list of all your PSN friends playing Death Stranding 2. To link up with a friend, just select their profile and press the touchpad to make a Strand Contract with them.
Strand Contracts are capped in Death Stranding 2, so you can only connect directly with a handful of other players. You can increase the amount of Strand Contracts you can form with certain APAS enhancements. Strand Contract Cap Boost upgrades only cost 20 APAS Memory each, so they're easy to slot into your existing builds without sacrificing any of your favorite upgrades.
Remember that you'll still see other random players' items and builds as you play through Death Stranding 2: On the Beach even if you have a bunch of active Strand Contracts. If you decide that some of these random players are helpful, you can send them some Likes and then form additional Strand Contracts with them via the Social Strand Service just like anyone else.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- June 26, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Kojima Productions
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Decima
- Franchise
- Death Stranding
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- PS5 Release Date
- June 26, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5
