On January 21, 2026, Xbox added Hideo Kojima's critically acclaimed action-adventure game, Death Stranding: Director's Cut, to the second half of January's Game Pass addition line-up.
In nearly two weeks since then, the game has quickly shot in popularity as one of the most-played Xbox titles in the US.
According to the Circana Player Engagement Tracker (directly from Mat Piscatella, the Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana), Death Stranding is now the 16th most popular Xbox title in the US, when before it was ranked 501st prior to being added on Xbox Game Pass.
Circana Player Engagement Tracker - US Top 10 Titles by Total Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) - W/E Jan 24, 2026- No Rest for the Wicked jumped from 322nd on Steam a week ago to 11th- 2XKO debuted 17th on PS and 27th on XBX- Death Stranding XBX ranked 16th (up from 501st) with Game Pass add
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-02-02T21:14:31.994Z
You're probably wondering why it took Death Stranding so long to finally become popular on Xbox after being ported there on November 7, 2024, once its years-long exclusivity to PlayStation and PC expired.
I speculate that due to Death Stranding's extremely unconventional and bizarre gameplay and premise, Xbox fans were somewhat skeptical about buying it, even when it was lavishly praised by critics (including us when we gave Death Stranding a 4.5/5 star review).
Not to mention, people were probably hesitant to play it on Xbox PC and Xbox Ally because of a deadly bug that corrupted your save file, which was thankfully fixed a few weeks ago.
Though I wouldn't blame them because, as someone who dabbled in Hideo Kojima's insane Metal Gear franchise (my favorite title being Metal Gear Rising), Death Stranding is one of the most bizarre AAA titles ever made.
Will you play Death Stranding now that it's on Xbox Game Pass?
Death Stranding has a strange gameplay loop where you deliver packages across a post-apocalyptic America on a mission to reunite it, while avoiding being killed by raiders, crazy cultists, rain that can cause you to age, and eldritch horrors that brought the world to its knees.
All the while carrying an infant baby that can detect said eldritch horrors are near and mountains of cargo that would break a normal person's back without dropping them off of cliffs.
I'd be hesitant too to try a game odd like this at full price without having a sneak peek via Xbox Game Pass. Yet now we can, and it's paying off well for the award-winning mailman simulator despite Xbox Game Pass' controversial 50% price hike last year.
With Death Stranding at last getting recognition from Xbox players on Xbox, maybe this will convince the developers and publishers to release its sequel, Death Stranding 2: on the Beach, on Xbox sometime.
Though that game will probably release first on PC, which could happen sometime soon, as evidenced by its early PC rating from November 2025.
We'll keep an eye out for when and if Death Stranding 2: On the Beach arrives on Xbox and PC, and let you folks at home know as soon as we can.
Have you playing Death Stranding since it got ported to Xbox in 2024, or have you waited for it to arrive on Xbox Game Pass?
If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.
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