Guerrilla Games has recently explained why the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West DLC won't be coming to PS4, stating that only the PS5 hardware can properly render the game's enhanced clouds. The new Horizon Forbidden West DLC will have a greater focus on flying, therefore clouds will play a bigger part in the exploration experience, and only next-gen hardware can handle that.
Ever since its announcement, Horizon Forbidden WestBurning shores DLC has promised to be a game-changer. Its story will take players to the archipelago of Los Angeles, which promises to be a very stark departure from the previous biomes found in the game. Now with several parts of it underwater, Los Angeles has become a fractured archipelago, and players will need to use flying and underwater traversal mechanics in order to get across and explore the region.
The developers of Horizon Forbidden West have recently affirmed that an upgrade in the game’s cloud system made the Burning Shores DLC unable to run on the PS4. Now, clouds will be stored in-game as 3D objects instead of just 2D effects. The PS4 simply could not handle the larger datasets for the effects to work as intended. So, the extra power of the PS5 will be necessary to render these atmospheric effects and ensure that the game continues to be one of the most beautiful PS5 games.
According to Guerrilla Games, exploring while flying will be one of the main features of the Horizon Forbidden West DLC. By doing so, players will be able to find caverns, tunnels, and a few other surprises. So, the clouds were necessary to create a different feel for each journey and offer a better experience for players with lifelike clouds. Depending on the time of the day, the gamer would be able to easily see some parts of the world, while not seeing others as clearly. To create this system, the developers worked together with an external Dutch studio and used the latest tech to render the clouds.
This DLC may be full of promises, but it will have fierce competition in its April release. The original game of the franchise was eclipsed by the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Horizon Forbidden West itself had to compete with Elden Ring last year. Now, the upcoming DLC will be launched in the same month as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which is also set to be a huge blockbuster.
Horizon Forbidden West is available on PS4 and PS5, and the Burning Shores DLC is scheduled to release on April 19 on PS5.
Source: PlayStation Blog
