Hideo Kojima’s weird and wild game Death Stranding heads to iOS this month–if you have the new iPhone 15 Pro to play it on that is–and you probably don’t want to experience this haunting open-world adventure with touchscreen controls. Fortunately, peripherals for smartphones are readily available, and to celebrate the arrival of Sam Porter and pals, Backbone has revealed its new limited-edition Death Stranding controller bundle. It’ll be available to preorder starting January 30 in the US for the price of $125.
Designed in partnership with Kojima Productions, the Death Stranding Backbone controller sports the best technology of the early 2000s: a transparent plastic casing so that you can see the internals of the device, in the same color as the portable jars used to carry Bridge Babies around. Some may say the controller is an interesting color, but it’s got nothing to do with piss. The controller comes like that.
Even better, you’ll get a free iOS download code for Death Stranding with the purchase of this controller. This particular model uses a USB-C connection to tether itself to your iPhone, which means it can also be used on compatible Android smartphones.
These controllers have also received a few other tweaks when compared to previous models, like magnetic adapters for a better fit and a reshaped D-pad. In case these models sell out, you can still pick up a Backbone controller in one of its more standard designs. Xbox and PlayStation-themed versions are available right now, and overall, these are pretty great for turning your smartphone into a handheld gaming device similar to the Nintendo Switch. For anyone who has one already, don’t forget that you can save 50% on Death Stranding by preordering the game, dropping the price from $40 to $20.
- Backbone PlayStation edition — $100
- Backbone Xbox edition — $100
- Backbone carrying case — $25
On the console side, Death Stranding 2 is in development and we might know the full name of this sequel thanks to a recent leak.
