What is the Q-pid and what is it for in Death Stranding?

If you've been paying any attention to the necklace around Sam Bridges' neck in the Death Stranding trailers and promo materials, you've likely wondered what it was for. It's not just a strange accessory. It has a use and a name, in fact: the Q-pid.

Moreover, it's integral to the overall Death Stranding narrative. So what is a Q-pid and what does it do? We're here to set everything straight with this helpful guide to everything you need to know about the Q-pid.

Fragile's here to keep you from spoilers.

What is a Q-pid and what does it do?

The Q-pid is a necklace with a series of tags that Sam wears around his neck. It helps him connect each terminal located throughout the country to the chiral network. Essentially, it's the key to connecting everyone throughout the burgeoning United Cities of America.

There are a series of equations etched into the tags on the Q-pid's chain, including the reaction-diffusion, Dirac, Higgs field, Einstein field equations, quantum entanglement state, and the Schwartzchild radius.

Sam places the Q-pid at the terminal he wishes to connect to the chiral network and it basically does the work for him. The Schrodinger equation and one related to Lagrangian density appear on the terminal after he places it down, Sam rises in the air a bit, and that's it – the new connection has been established. All of this is done automatically after your contact has agreed to join the network. There's more you'll learn about the Q-pid necklace in the game that we can discuss at a later date, but that's essentially what it's good for and what it is.

If you like Sam's necklace and want one of your very own, you can actually purchase it from the official Kojima Productions store. It's $325, but it's well worth the purchase (I bought one) as a collector's item. Otherwise, there are cosplay-grade replicas all over the internet if you can't shell out that much cash or don't want to for a replica.

Now you can explain to everyone what the Q-pid is, you should absolutely go check out our complete Death Stranding guide for more in-depth content surrounding Hideo Kojima's newest game.