Arkane Studios' upcoming shooter Deathloop will lose its PlayStation 5 exclusivity in September 2022. It was confirmed in December 2020 that both Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo would be timed PlayStation 5 exclusives following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, the publishing company for both games. However, until now, it was unclear for how long the timed exclusivity for either title would last.
Following on from the success of the Dishonored series, Arkane Studios has been working on Deathloop, a sci-fi shooter that sees its protagonist Colt stuck in a bloody Groundhog Day experience. Taking place on the fictional island of Blackreef, players must use the knowledge they obtain from each cycle of gameplay to uncover the secrets and mysteries of the world that they find themselves in day after day. However, this is not going to be easy, as everyone on Blackreef wants Colt dead. Something especially true for the Deathloop’s main antagonist, Julianna, who, unlike everyone else on the island, retains her memories of all previous time loops.
With a lofty premise and gameplay that already looks incredibly slick, anticipation for Deathloop has been high ever since it was first announced in 2019. Now, as spotted by Kotaku, it has been revealed that while it will release for the PlayStation 5 and PC exclusively at first, this will only be for about a year, up until at least September 14, 2022. After that, it will become available on “other gaming consoles”. Given Microsoft’s Bethesda buyout, it is not hard to surmise that these additional gaming consoles refer to the Xbox Series X/S.
This nugget of information was gleaned following a Deathloop gameplay trailer, that was initially revealed at Sony’s July State of Play. While this text was not shown during the State of Play itself, the same trailer is now available on Bethesda’s own YouTube channel, with these extra details added on at the end. The information is, admittedly, still quite easy to miss, but it is most certainly there.
This latest Deathloop news is hardly surprising, but it may sway some players’ decisions on which gaming console to buy in the future. Thus far, the PS5 has outsold Xbox Series X/S, but with the reveal of several new Xbox exclusives coming in the future, these figures may change.
As it stands, Housemarque’s Returnal, Insomniac Games’ Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls remain a few of the only truly new-gen games exclusively on the market for Sony gamers. Meanwhile, other PlayStation titles such as God of War: Ragnarök and Horizon Forbidden West will be launching for both current and last-gen platforms on their eventual release.
Deathloop is currently scheduled to release as a timed PlayStation 5 and PC exclusive on September 14, 2021.
Sources: Kotaku, Bethesda/YouTube