The second Death Stranding 2 trailer gave us a ton of info, including a definitive answer for what Drawbridge is. It was evident from the first trailer that Drawbridge was some sort of organization, but we had no idea what its purpose was or how it related to Bridges. Below, we’ll take a deep dive into what we know about Drawbridge so far and what its role in Death Stranding 2 will be.
What is Drawbridge in Death Stranding 2?
In Death Stranding 2, Drawbridge is the organization that Sam Porter Bridges will be working for. It is a successor to Bridges, with a key difference. It’s not controlled or funded by the United Cities of America government. Instead, it’s a civilian outfit that was founded by Fragile, and its funding comes from a private patron.
“Fragile: We have a generous patron with access to plenty of capital and tech.
Sam: Sounds like a UCA bigshot.
Fragile: Don’t ask me. We’ve never met face to face. They value their privacy.
Sam: Seriously? You know better than to believe that bullshit.”
After Sam absconded with Lou, many things changed in the UCA. Bridges withdrew from the distribution centers and was seemingly disbanded. According to Fragile, this was in part because human porters were made obsolete within the Chiral network. Now, in the UCA, all distribution is handled by bots, the prototypes for which we saw in the the original game. These bots are produced and operated by another private corporation called the Automated Public Assistance Company (APAC), which seems to have ties to the resurrected Higgs.
“Fragile: A lot of things changed after you went off on your own, especially within the UCA. Bridges no longer oversees the distribution network. They withdrew once things were up and running. So your friends and co-workers all went their separate ways. Within network coverage, there’s no need to rely on human porters anymore. So after I closed up shop, I went and started a new group, one that handles work in regions outside the UCA. We decided to call ourselves Drawbridge.”
Drawbridge’s mobile base of operation is the DHV Magellan, and we’re given several clues that the entire ship may be able to travel across beaches and repatriate. The blue hue cast over Sam and Fragile as she gives him a tour of the ship is the same one we see when Sam is sent to the beach. Additionally, we can see the ship exiting a BB’s mouth, which is the same thing that happens when Sam repatriates in the original game. It looks like it’ll take the same role the Distribution Centers did in the original game as Sam explores and connects various countries to the Chiral network throughout the world.
“Sam: The problem is, not everybody wants to be part of the UCA.
Fragile: That’s not the plan Sam. The UCA isn’t looking to expand its borders. Just like with Mexico, they want to bring new regions into the network.”
We also know that Drawbridge isn’t a military organization. Fragile explains to Sam that its goal isn’t to expand the borders of the UCA. Instead, they want to allow those outside of the country to reconnect with humanity. Of course, there may be an ulterior motive here, but at face value, it seems the company’s goal is positive.
However, Drawbridge also definitely conducts research into BTs (and possibly BBs, by extension). Given how the BB project turned out, we have to wonder how strong the company’s ethics are.
