I’m not sure how many people expected Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart to show up on the PS4, but whoever they are, they just got some disappointing news. Ratchet & Clank’s latest adventure, set to launch within the next few months, will be on PS5, and PS5 only. If you want to follow the Lombax-and-robot duo’s journey through a series of fast-loading dimensional rifts, you’ll need Sony’s latest console — if you can find one.
Information comes from the Insomniac Games Twitter account, with a terse, straightforward reply to a question about platform availability. User @Spidey889 asked whether Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart will be available for PS4. An Insomniac rep replied, “It’s a PS5 exclusive.”
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It’s a PS5 exclusiveNovember 2, 2020
On the one hand, Insomniac never suggested that the game would be available for the PS4, so there’s no particular reason to think the game would be out for Sony’s previous console. On the other hand, Sony hyped up Insomniac’s other new title, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, as a PS5 game for months before we learned that it would find a home on the PS4 as well. Granted, neither company ever said that Miles Morales was PS5-exclusive — but it took them a long time to clarify its PS4 availability.
There’s also the issue of whether Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart would be feasible on the PS4 hardware. Since Miles Morales used a PS4 game (Marvel’s Spider-Man) as its base, it makes sense that Insomniac could make a PS4 version available without reworking the whole thing from scratch. However, the PS5’s powerful SSD and fast load times appear to be an integral part of Rift Apart’s design, as Ratchet and Clank leap through dimensional ports into completely rendered worlds within seconds. The same process on the PS4 would probably take long enough to interrupt the flow of gameplay.
Granted, there may be some solace for those who don’t own a PS5 way, way down the line. Sony tends to stream a lot of its exclusive titles through the PlayStation Now service, at least for a limited time. At some point, PlayStation Now could offer PS5 games, and if it does, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart would be a prime candidate. This would allow gamers to play Rift Apart on a PS4 or a PC in addition to a PS5. However, we wouldn’t expect this for another few years, at least, so waiting is not a guaranteed strategy.
For the moment, the only way to play Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be on a PS5. That was always the case, but it’s good to have some clarity, at least.
- Use a PS4 VPN to stream extra content and avoid network throttling
