Custom Backbone One Out Now for ‘Death Stranding’ on iPhone

Hideo Kojima’s extremely bizarre delivery simulator starring The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus is out on iOS, iPadOS, and Mac for $20, and Backbone One has built a unique controller to match the iPhone version.

Done up in a lovely translucent gold tone, the Death Stranding Backbone One variant will cost $124.99. If, that is, it wasn’t already sold out.

The game was released in 2019 on PlayStation 4, 2020 for Windows PCs, and 2021 for PlayStation 5. It’s received numerous awards, including PC Game of the Year at the 2020 Golden Joystick Awards and Best Direction at the 2019 Game Awards.

You get to play Norman Reedus’ character, Sam the deliveryman, in a post-apocalyptic world populated by terrifying ghost-like monsters. Other famous performers emerge along the road, including Mads Mikkelson, Lindsey Wagner, and Guillermo Del Toro, all of whom figure significantly in cinematic cut scenes. The gameplay focuses on piling as many delivered items as possible and then traveling across tough terrain. There’s also an unusual energy mechanic using babies in tanks that you wear strapped to your body. I told you it was weird.

Backbone collaborated with Kojima Productions to create the new controller, so you can be sure it will look good. It works with any USB-C phone, not just Death Stranding, and includes magnetic adapters for a better phone fit and case support.

The new version of the game on Apple’s ecosystem costs $19.99, though you’d get a free copy with the custom Backbone One, if you could buy one. If you really want to get one to play the new game on, though, you can use the regular version of the Backbone, too.