During the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach special panel at SXSW 2025, director Hideo Kojima has pre-emptively apologised for how crazy Higgs will be as a character in the game. During the panel, Kojima described Higgs (played by Troy Baker once more), as a character that is 100 times better than how he was in the original Death Stranding.
“Higgs is not like twice or thrice better – it’s 100 times better than DS1,” said Kojima. “So at the end, you’re gonna watch Higgs and say ‘what is this?’ And you’ll probably throw the controller, it’s so ridiculous. I’ll apologize beforehand.”
Baker, acknowledging the craziness of the character, responded by saying “mission accomplished if you do.”
Kojima went on to talk about how the decision to bring Higgs back in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach came about because of the popularity of the character from the original Death Stranding. He mentioned that, since Higgs ended up being such a beloved character, the ante would have to be raised by several steps for the sequel.
“Higgs was so popular last time I thought ‘I can’t kill him,’” Kojima explained. “So he’s coming back, apparently. But Higgs is not a normal villain. He’s a loved character. So I thought I would raise two, three steps higher for this character.”
Baker also spoke about reprising the role of Higgs for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, talking about the various characters in the game and how all the actors are trying to achieve Kojima’s vision for the game.
“Especially when you’re creating a world like Hideo is doing, everybody is just trying to hit the world that is up in that head,” said Baker while pointing at Kojima. “It’s a mind-blowing world with mind-blowing characters, and all we have to do is just play it beat to beat and scene to scene.”
The same panel at SXSW 2025 also saw the release of a new trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which also revealed that the game would be coming to PS5 on June 26. Alongside this, the trailer also gave us a lengthy look at the seemingly-insane story of Death Stranding 2, while also introducing us to new threats and characters.
One of the new characters introduced to us thanks to the newest trailer was Neil, played by Luca Marinelli. In a social media post, Kojima revealed details on how he came to meet Marinelli, and how the decision to cast him for the character came about. Kojima also revealed that the character, Neil, will play a similar role as Mads Mikkelsen’s character Cliff from the original Death Stranding.
A concert tour celebrating the music of Death Stranding was also announced. Dubbed the Strands of Harmony World Tour, tickets for the concerts are set to become available from March 12 onwards. The first leg of the concert will kick things off in Sydney, Australia in November, before ultimately coming to Canada with performances in Montreal and Toronto in March 2026.
