Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches on PC on March 19, 2026, roughly nine months after its PlayStation 5 debut. The PC port is handled by Nixxes, the Sony-owned studio behind the Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and Horizon Forbidden West PC versions, both of which run on the same Decima engine. Nixxes has published a full breakdown of system requirements across four preset tiers, each tied to a specific resolution and frame rate target — a welcome level of detail compared to the vague "minimum" and "recommended" labels many games ship with.
Quick answer: You need at least an NVIDIA GTX 1660 or AMD RX 5500 XT 8GB, a quad-core CPU like the Intel i3-10100 or Ryzen 3 3100, 16GB of RAM, and 150GB of SSD space to run the game at 1080p / 30 FPS on the Low preset. For 1440p at 60 FPS on High settings, you'll want an RTX 3070 or RX 6800 paired with an i7-11700 or Ryzen 7 5700X.
Full system requirements by preset tier
| Tier | Preset | Target | GPU | CPU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Low | 1080p @ 30 FPS | GTX 1660 / RX 5500 XT 8GB | i3-10100 / Ryzen 3 3100 |
| Medium | Medium | 1080p @ 60 FPS | RTX 3060 12GB / RX 6600 | i5-11400 / Ryzen 5 5600 |
| High (Recommended) | High | 1440p @ 60 FPS | RTX 3070 / RX 6800 | i7-11700 / Ryzen 7 5700X |
| Very High | Very High | 4K @ 60 FPS | RTX 4080 / RX 9070 XT | i7-11700 / Ryzen 7 5700X |
All four tiers share the same RAM, storage, and OS requirements: 16GB of system memory, a 150GB SSD, and Windows 10 or 11 (version 1909 or newer). The 150GB install size is a notable jump from the original Death Stranding Director's Cut, which sits around 74GB on PC — likely driven by higher-resolution textures and 4K pre-rendered cutscenes.
One detail worth noting is that the CPU requirement stays flat between the High and Very High tiers. Only the GPU changes, jumping from an RTX 3070 to an RTX 4080 (or from an RX 6800 to an RX 9070 XT). That's a sensible call — pushing resolution from 1440p to 4K at the same 60 FPS target is almost entirely a GPU-bound workload.
Upscaling and frame generation options
The PC version ships with support for NVIDIA DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2. Both upscaling and frame generation modes are available for all three technologies, which means players on mid-range hardware can push beyond what the raw spec tiers suggest. If you're sitting on an RTX 3060 Ti, for instance, enabling DLSS upscaling could comfortably push you into High-preset territory at 1080p or even 1440p with a quality-mode upscale.
There's also a new option called Pico, short for Progressive Image Compositor. Developed by Guerrilla Games for the Decima engine, Pico is the same upscaling technology used in the PS5 version of Death Stranding 2. This marks its first appearance in a PC game. Unlike DLSS or FSR, Pico works on any supported graphics card regardless of vendor, and it can be paired with any of the available frame generation options. For players who want to avoid vendor-specific upscalers, Pico offers a hardware-agnostic alternative baked directly into the engine.
All upscaling methods can be combined with Dynamic Resolution Scaling, and players can manually adjust upscaling quality presets. Native anti-aliasing options remain available for anyone who prefers to skip upscaling entirely.
Portable preset for handheld PCs
Beyond the four main tiers, Nixxes has included a Portable preset specifically designed for handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally. No specific performance targets have been published for this preset, and Death Stranding 2 is not currently Steam Deck Verified. But the existence of a dedicated handheld preset — sitting below the Low tier — suggests Nixxes has done targeted optimization work for the hardware class. It's worth waiting for real-world benchmarks before committing to a handheld purchase, but the intent is clear.
Ultrawide and display options
The PC version supports both 21:9 and 32:9 ultrawide aspect ratios. All cutscenes in Death Stranding 2 were authored for 21:9, giving ultrawide players a native cinematic presentation. Gameplay extends further to fill 32:9 super-ultrawide displays.
Players on standard 16:9 monitors aren't left out of the ultrawide experience. A display setting lets you opt into a 21:9 aspect ratio with letterboxing, widening the field of view at the cost of vertical screen space. This same 21:9 option is also being added to the PS5 version via an update timed to the PC launch on March 19.
Bonus cosmetics for PS5 and PC players
Two PlayStation-logo-inspired cosmetic items — the Porter Suit: Link and Patch: Link — will be distributed to all PS5 players through a game update when the PC version launches. PC players can unlock the same items by linking their PlayStation account. These are purely cosmetic and don't affect gameplay.
Where to pre-purchase
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PC is available for pre-purchase now on Steam and the Epic Games Store. The game arrives on March 19, 2026.
The requirements paint a picture of a well-optimized port, at least on paper. The Decima engine has a strong track record on PC — the original Death Stranding ran remarkably well across a wide range of hardware — and Nixxes has steadily improved its porting work with each Decima-based release. Whether the game actually hits those performance targets at launch is another question, but the spec sheet, the breadth of upscaling options, and the dedicated portable preset all point in the right direction.