This Major PS5 Title Won't Launch On PS4

Though Sony is putting a lot of time, money, and effort into the PlayStation 5, the company isn't ready to abandon the PlayStation 4 just yet. Many anticipated PS5 games, from launch titles such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales to upcoming releases like Horizon: Forbidden West, will also land on the PS4. Sure, these PS4 ports will liposuction out a few features (e.g., ray tracing and haptic rumble) to run on the less-advanced hardware, but Sony has assured users the PS4 still has life in it.

Just because the PS4 isn't ready to head off to the great garage sale in the sky, doesn't mean every upcoming PS5 game can or even will release on the PS4. The Demon's Souls remake won't come out on PS4, and neither will Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

Ratchet & Clank is a long-running Sony franchise that started way back in the long-forgotten year of 2002. The title, developed by Insomniac Games (yes the same Insomniac also busy with Spider-Man: Miles Morales) blasted onto the PlayStation 2 to rousing success. The game spawned countless sequels and spin-offs on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and even the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita. The only exception to this stream of content was the PlayStation 4. That console only saw one game in the franchise: the semi-reboot and retelling of the first game — and movie tie-in — simply titled Ratchet & Clank.

Before Ratchet & Clank, the last entry in the franchise of non-questionable canonicity was 2013's Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, released on the PS3. More importantly, none of the other Ratchet & Clank games are playable on the PS4. Meanwhile, the other (and more noticeably short lived) platformer franchise that started on the PS2 and stared a cartoonish duo, Jak and Daxter, received a PS4 port.

If you want to experience Ratchet & Clank on the PS4, the reboot is your only choice, which gives the console the unenviable title of "PlayStation with fewest number of Ratchet & Clank entries" — PlayStation 1 notwithstanding. Even the PS Portable and Vita have more Ratchet & Clank entries, albeit in the form of spin-offs and ports of PS3 titles. Still, you might assume Sony and Insomniac would use Rift Apart, the long-awaited new entry to the original series' canon, to beef up the PS4's library. That simply isn't happening.

In the twilight hours of Nov. 1, Twitter user MC DC (Sidharth) asked Insomniac if Rift Apart would also come to the PS4, and the official Insomniac Games Twitter channel quickly responded with a resounding no. Rift Apart will be a PS5 exclusive. Nobody could agree on the proper reaction.

While some commentators believed not porting Rift Apart to the PS4 is the right move because of load times, others were disappointed and hoped that other upcoming PS5 games, such as God of War: Ragnarok, would launch on both consoles. A few people even discussed the possibility of seeing Rift Apart on PC given recent ports of former PS4 exclusives such as Horizon: Zero Dawn and Death Stranding. However, most conversation contributors could have cared less about which platform Rift Apart will release on and just wanted to know when the game will launch.

While the PS5 exclusivity news is disappointing to many gamers, especially those who wanted more Ratchet & Clank on the PS4, it isn't too surprising. The game's web page lists how each of the PS5's selling points — including ray tracing, SSD, and haptic feedback — will be utilized in Rift Apart, and none of these features are possible on the PS4. Then again, the Spider-Man: Miles Morales web page follows the same formula and describes in detail how the game will implement tech like 3D audio and adaptive triggers, yet that game will also launch on the PS4.

This might make you wonder why Insomniac is taking the time, money, and effort to launch Miles Morales on two consoles but will only release Right Apart on one. Does the studio want to pull off some levels and techniques that are simply impossible on the PS4? Is Miles Morales more compatible with the PS4 because it uses the same engine as the previous Spider-Man game? Is Insomniac more concerned with creating a Miles Morales PS4 port than a Rift Apart PS4 rendition because Miles Morales is a launch title, while Rift Apart has an unspecified release window? Fans can only speculate until Insomniac comes clean and gives gamers a straight answer.