With God of War: Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West officially confirmed to be released on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, an insider reports that was always the plan for both games. While Horizon Forbidden West’s gameplay reveal shows that the game will at least look spectacular and run well, the idea that these highly anticipated titles will be playable on older hardware means that developers may be forced to make concessions. The most obvious of these is reduced frame rate, although there are other, less obvious areas that could impact the end user experience, as well.
One of the biggest selling points of the PS5 is its proprietary SSD (solid-state drive), which is capable of loading content much faster than traditional hard drives. This cuts down on loading times and allows developers to create much larger game worlds. Until now, developers have circumvented these load times in open-world games by having characters squeeze through cracks in walls, climb long ladders, or wait in elevators. While these techniques can mask load times quite well, the introduction of SSDs essentially makes these shortcuts a thing of the past. However, if games are designed to accommodate older hardware like the PS4 in addition to newer consoles, then it may limit the scope of current-gen open-world games entirely.
Andy Robinson from VGC explains that Horizon Forbidden West and God of War's simultaneous development for both PS5 and PS4 was apparently planned from each project's start. Speaking of correspondence with an industry contact, Robinson shares that "these games were always intended to release as cross-gen titles" despite Sony only recently revealing that information. However, as many online have pointed out when referring back to claims of its PS5 exclusivity, the delayed Gran Turismo 7 is now also coming to PS4, and that "decision to release a PS4 version was made only fairly recently."
The God of War franchise has historically been PlayStation system seller. Although the upcoming entry’s still a PlayStation exclusive, it does raise concerns about when PS5 players will see a truly “next-gen” experience. The same goes for Horizon Forbidden West; despite Aloy not yet having Kratos’s pedigree, many were expecting this title to do for the PS5 what the original did for the PS4. While it makes strong business sense for Sony to continue supporting the PS4, it will be difficult for Sony to market the last-gen versions of God of War: Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West as comparable to their PS5 counterparts.
Generally speaking, this may not be as disappointing as it initially sounds. The developers behind these games are clearly not going to create titles for the PS4 and upscale them for the PS5. However, from a design perspective, there is the concern that catering to older generations will affect the studios’ visions for their game worlds. This possibility will likely go through players’ heads as they experience these games for the first time, and any cross-gen concessions may be points of criticism when these games release. Santa Monica Studio and Guerilla Games have a proven track record of creating great content, so the most prudent option may be to wait until we see more gameplay before jumping to any conclusions.
Horizon Forbidden West will be available for PS5 and PS4 in 2021, and God of War: Ragnarok will launch on PS5 and PS4 in 2022.
Source: VGC