Highlights
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is coming to Sony and Microsoft's ninth-generation consoles, expanding its reach to a wider audience.
- The game, known for its captivating storytelling, art style, and characterization, has been critically acclaimed since its launch in 2013.
- Fans are excited about the release, and there will be an upgrade option for those who purchased the game on PS4 or Xbox One.
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is finally receiving ports on Sony and Microsoft's ninth-generation consoles. Not that long ago, Kentucky Route Zero was made available through Netflix.
Developed by Cardboard Computer and published by Annapurna Interactive, Kentucky Route Zero is an episodic point-and-click adventure game that first dropped in early 2013 for PC and iOS, releasing in five acts over the following years with the last arriving in January 2020. Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition released on the latter date, and is a console port with all five episodes bundled together. The game centers on a delivery truck driver named Conway, who is delivering an antique in Kentucky, only to get lost on his journey and come across a wide array of strange scenarios and people. It has been critically acclaimed since its launch, garnering praise for its storytelling, art style, and characterization.
As announced by Annapurna Interactive, Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition will be continuing the recent trend of popular last-gen titles dropping on more current hardware, and is finally getting ports on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. A fifty-three-second announcement trailer was dropped, showing various iconic yet silent scenes from throughout the game in its distinctive, simplistic art style and dreary color palette, accompanied by its haunting electronic soundtrack and a quote from a highly positive VentureBeat review. The video ends with a confirmation of the release date, August 17, which may be a lot sooner than one might expect. No evidence was provided as to whether these versions will be physically or digitally released, but considering the Switch and PlayStation 4 ports were physical, there is good precedent.
Not many comments are present on the video at time of writing, but fans appeared rather elated by the news, referring to Kentucky Route Zero as one of the best games to ever release in recent years, a viewpoint shared with several other critics. Notably, one commenter asked whether there would be an upgrade option for those who purchased the PS4 or Xbox One versions, to which Annapurna Interactive confirmed there would be.
Porting a popular game to even more platforms can only be a good thing, as it expands the game's reach and thus its audience. Now, many more players should be able to enjoy the immersive and heart-wrenching five-part journey that is Kentucky Route Zero, and when they're done doing that, Cardboard Computer has a new game in development to look forward to. Given how beloved this game has been, whatever the devs have in store next is sure to be worth the wait.
Kentucky Route Zero is available on iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions will arrive on August 17.
