Last month Sony elicited more than a few raised eyebrows from PlayStation fans when the publisher confirmed that Gran Turismo 7, and the God of War 2018 sequel, would be launching as cross-generational games. With players having fought tooth and nail against a sea of scalpers to get their hands on the brand new PS5, the sense of disappointment from some corners of the internet was understandable to a certain degree. As it stands right now, Sony's software line-up for the second half of the year is heavily reliant on enhanced Director's Cut re-releases of classics like Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding. Both of which are cross-gen games within themselves.
Against a backdrop of continuing shortages and production side issues, something that will likely see the PS5 in limited supply into 2022, there are plenty of reasons for Sony's U-turn on defined console generations. For starters, granting more players access to some of the biggest upcoming games seems fair from a moral standpoint. There are some reassuring signs that the biggest cross-generation games won't be held back by the expanded audience, either, ensuring that both player bases have plenty to look forward to.
Gran Turismo 7
Originally unveiled to the world alongside the PS5 itself in June 2020, Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 7 was expected to become the first major racing game exclusive on the platform. Having confirmed in February that the latest entry in the series wouldn't hit the metaphorical road this year, it took Sony nearly 4 more months to announce that it would be launching simultaneously on the PS4 in 2022. In a recent interview, Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst stated that the cross-generational shift was down to the publisher simply being unable to walk away from the 110 million PS4 owners that populate the world.
Despite releasing a striking reveal trailer that featured 60 FPS gameplay and ray tracing, Polyphony Digital's newest 'Real Driving Simulator' installment still didn't look all that dissimilar graphically from the already impressive Gran Turismo Sport. Admittedly, that's to be expected given the stage of development that the game is at though. Whenever the covers are finally peeled off from Gran Turismo 7 again, there's a solid chance that the game will look noticeably more polished, and it will undoubtedly take full advantage of next generation features like the DualSense controller.
No matter which version of the game players ultimately decide to invest in, Gran Turismo 7 is shaping up to be a welcome return to form for the franchise. Having focused predominately on multiplayer and e-sports centric mechanics in the PS4's Gran Turismo Sport, this latest model appears to be going back to the single player roots that made the early games household names. The return of classic tracks, Gran Turismo's signature Simulation Mode, and the iconic used car mechanics should all go a considerable way to helping the game shine on both PlayStation consoles.
God of War
When the sequel to 2018's God of War was used as a final show stopping announcement at last September's PS5 event, there were more than a few onlookers who had a hard time believing that the game would be ready for a supposed 2021 release. Having painstakingly brought Kratos' first Norse themed adventure to life, it seemed like a titanic sized challenge for Santa Monica Studio to have the game ready to launch so quickly. It's for this reason, then, that the announcement of a delay wasn't met with too many shocked reactions from fans. What surprised many though, is the fact that the game is now scheduled to launch on the PS4 as well at some point in 2022.
Historically, there's a precedent within the franchise for Santa Monica Studio actually forgoing next generation releases altogether. That's because back in 2007 the studio released the original God of War sequel exclusively on the PS2, nearly 5 months after the PS3's launch. With God of War 2 having carved out critical and commercial success on the old system, there's an argument to be made that it therefore makes too much financial sense for PlayStation to ignore the already established user base completely. As such, prioritizing development on a PS5 version that will surely feature a host of exclusive next generation bells and whistles can be viewed not only as a welcome break from tradition, but also a more balanced approach.
Like all of Sony's currently confirmed cross-generation first party games, the as of yet untitled God of War sequel will have started out life on PS4 devkits. There's some logic as a result of this for releasing last-generation versions of these games that have already had a serious amount of work put into them. After all, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales has demonstrated how it isn't impossible for games to be optimized in a way that they shine on both systems. With rumors persisting that Sony is gearing up to reveal gameplay for the next God of War, owners of both platforms hopefully won't have to wait long to have their worries eased.
Horizon: Forbidden West
As the game that's had the most amount of time in the spotlight so far, Horizon Forbidden West legitimizes Sony's cross-generation approach whilst simultaneously showing PS5 owners why they shouldn't be too worried about the presence of a PS4 port. Based on the recent 19 minute State of Play that featured a mixture of cinematics and gameplay, Guerrilla Games' action-RPG sequel is shaping up to be a graphical and technical showstopper on the newest PlayStation console. With a next generation exclusive lighting rig and 3D audio being just two of the features promised so far, it's clear that Sony is being mindful of the need to justify the amount of money players will have invested to get their hands on a PS5.
How Horizon Forbidden West and the other games mentioned run on the PS4 is still up in the air right now, as Sony has not yet shown these versions off. That's likely down to a necessity to promote the new console the publisher is all about marketing right now, though, rather than being indicative of inferior ports. Guerrilla Games in particular has gone to great lengths to reassure both platform player bases that their individual needs will be catered to when the game launches, seemingly at some point in 2021. In a recent interview, director Mathijs de Jonge also went as far as to state that development hasn't been limited by Sony's cross-gen U-turn at all.
While a stigma has always persisted around these types of releases, everything that Sony has talked about in regards to the 3 biggest PlayStation cross-gen games has indicated that this stance might be out of date. With console shortages likely to persist for some time to come, there's a high probability that more PlayStation Studios titles will see simultaneous PS4 and PS5 launches in the future, too. Provided the quality of these games doesn't suffer, it stands to reason that Sony should be able to keep both camps happy. That said, with games like Returnal and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart showcasing the power and sales potential of the PS5, it's also only a matter of time until it becomes the sole home of games in the near future.
