Death Stranding 2: On the Beach isn’t just a visual stunner; it’s realistic enough to fool age verification systems. In the UK, new safety laws require platforms like Reddit and Discord to verify users’ ages using facial recognition tools. But thanks to Death Stranding 2’s photo mode and ultra-realistic models, some users are using in-game shots of Norman Reedus to get around those checks.
It sounds ridiculous, but it works. The game’s photo mode lets players control expressions and lighting, which is enough to pass some systems’ verification steps. Just snap a pic of your screen and you’re in.
You can use Death Stranding's photo mode to bypass Discord's age verification https://t.co/o9n0c0lwkI pic.twitter.com/mvYmhZZCVp
— Dany Sterkhov 🛡✈ (@DanySterkhov) July 25, 2025
Death Stranding 2’s realism is beating facial recognition
Hideo Kojima’s team used a full camera rig to capture actors’ faces in extreme detail, and the result is a level of realism that tricks the software designed to tell if someone’s a real adult.
According to The Verge, both Discord and Reddit’s tools were easy to fool. Meanwhile, the UK government is under pressure, with nearly 400,000 signatures on a petition to scrap the new rules, but there’s no sign of a rollback.
Elsewhere, Kojima shared that 80% of players who finished Death Stranding 2 kept playing for five-star SSS connections, and yes, rescuing kangaroos in the wasteland is a real thing.
Death Stranding 2.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 26, 2025
It’s been a month since release. It seems many players have already reached the ending. Since all the “Someones” around the world are connected through SSS, we’re able to gather a variety of data. Apparently, 79% of “Someones” who reached the end of the story… pic.twitter.com/HgXtHsEYWC
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