Even as some gamers continue to voice complaints that titles on the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 aren’t sufficiently “next-gen,” news that expansions for two of the biggest games on the market won’t arrive on older hardware has been met with a decidedly mixed response. CD Projekt Red’s eagerly awaitedPhantom LibertyDLC forCyberpunk 2077will be exclusive to PC and current-gen consoles, while Guerrilla Games’Burning ShoresDLC forHorizon Forbidden Westis only releasing on PS5. These decisions make sense as developers begin to take advantage of the new hardware, but not every gamer is excited about the move.
With players seeking out games capable of pushing their current-gen consoles to their limits, it’s only natural that developers would make the move away from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in an effort to meet that demand. Reflecting the high cost of making this transition, it was recently revealed that the next-gen-onlyPhantom LibertyDLC forCyberpunk 2077has the biggest budget in CD Projekt Red’s history. While this move to the latest hardware is welcome news for gamers looking to justify the cost of their new console, the switch is likely to leave some players feeling left behind.
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Guerrilla Games and CDPR are Leaving PS4 and Xbox One Behind
The sting of the DLC forHorizon Forbidden WestandCyberpunk 2077only coming to the latest crop of consoles will be felt particularly hard by players who fell in love with these franchises on older hardware. Only recently have gamers been able to stop relying onXbox and PS5 restock alerts from GameStopand other retailers to even have a shot at buying one of the new consoles. An uncertain economy means some players may have chosen to forgo upgrading even with wider hardware availability.
While gamers have grown accustomed to seeing new entries in popular franchises be some of the first games to make the switch to new hardware, it’s rare to see developers take this approach with expansions for existing titles. This leads to a particularly pronounced splitting of the playerbase in Guerrilla Games’ case thanks to the fact thatgamers who beatHorizon Forbidden Weston PS4 won’t be able to access theBurning ShoresDLCeven if they own a PS5. Unfortunately for some gamers, this is likely just the start of a trend sure to gain momentum as time goes on.
The PS4, Xbox One Generation Puts Game Developers in a Difficult Position
AlthoughCyberpunk 2077’s Phantom LibertyDLC and theBurning Shoresexpansion forHorizon Forbidden Westmay be some of the first high-profile launches designed exclusively for Microsoft and Sony’s latest consoles, they definitely won’t be the last. In the coming years, it’s likely that many other franchises that began life on the Xbox One and PS4 will only release future expansions for those systems’ current-gen counterparts.
It’s probably safe to assume that most developers would like their games to reach the largest audience possible rather than being held back by hardware restrictions. But, as inevitably happens with each new generation of hardware, delivering previously unimaginable experiences for players requires leaving older hardware behind. With an upcoming slate ofgames running on Unreal Engine 5and other advanced engines, last-gen systems like the PS4 and Xbox One simply lack the horsepower to keep up.
While the move away from older hardware is nothing new for the gaming industry, the downsides of these transitions become harder to ignore in an era of digital distribution. With rumors already swirling that aPS5 Pro is in development, many gamers may be left wondering when they’ll be forced to upgrade yet again just to play the latest releases.
Cyberpunk 2077is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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