The year has just begun, and we are awash with the news. The most influential technological exhibition started on January 5; we are talking about the Customers Electronic Show or CES. There were plenty of intriguing announcements on the first day of the event. One of the most notable was the release of Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PC. This spring, users will enjoy the new content and even a couple of crossovers.
No longer exclusive
The extended version came out this spring. At that time, the release was meant to be exclusive to the fifth-generation PS. The owners of the new console even got a little upset. A pleasant gift is now not only theirs. Soon, the new missions and extended lore will also be available to PC owners.
Improved graphics and performance mark the updated version of Death Stranding. Besides, its users got new content, including weapons, tasks, storylines, etc. The game became more beautiful, developed, and bigger. The fans got new transport, equipment, and game modes. Moreover, the developers promise content inspired by Cyberpunk 2077 and Half-Life.
Remember that Death Stranding has already collaborated with Cyberpunk. In November 2020, the games got the first crossover. The update has been adapted for PCs only. Johnny's aviators, the main character's motorcycle, and arm and face implants appeared in the DS. The game also received six new quests with Cyberpunk lore and characters.
It's funny that Kojima disapproves of the Director's Cut title because of the presence of new content. The term "director's cut" implies the addition of previously excluded elements. But a whole new material was created for the extended DS. Thus, the registered name can be confusing. The term taken from Kojima's beloved cinematography is inappropriate. The game designer jokingly calls the game "Director's Plus."
XeSS and more
Intel was also involved. They once again demonstrated the XeSS AI scaling technology at the CES 2022. It is a distinctive feature of the new Intel video cards.
The first full-fledged presentation of supersampling took place last year in November. Using The Riftbreaker as an example, the programmers showed the difference between XeSS and the usual Full HD. The detail of the image has increased enormously. The demo video proves that the naked eye can see the difference.
The technology is based on the machine learning principle. The scaling is done by artificial intelligence, and the image quality does not affect the device performance. We can say that XeSS kills two birds with one stone. These birds are image clarity and playback speed. The product is a response to NVIDIA and AMD. They already have similar DLSS and FSR AI technologies.
An exact release date has not yet been set. The extended version will be issued this spring. It will appear in Steam and Epic Games Store. The former has already created a page of the title. So, interested users can add the game to their wish list.
Before, at the end of December, Kojima announced the development of the Death Stranding heroes' concepts. It turned out that Fragile was originally supposed to ride a motorcycle. And Higgs' face was covered with a gilded mask. It was replaced by Egyptian-style makeup to show Troy Baker's acting skills.
Kojima Productions promises to make more news headlines. Kojima has already revealed how ambitious the company's plans for the coming year are. Director's Plus is just one of the points of the impressive plan.
