A native God of War PS5 port probably isn’t in the plans for now, but Sony Santa Monica is doing the next best thing. The studio is putting out a PS5 update for the 2018 Game of the Year contender (and winner, in many cases) that’s adding simultaneous 4K and a 60 frames per second support. The GOW PS5 update is scheduled to come out on February 2 for free.
What does the God of War PS5 update do?
The God of War (2018) Enhanced Performance Experience for the PS5 is coming tomorrow!
✔️ Syncs to 60 FPS
✔️ 4K Checkerboard Resolution
✔️ 2160p
✔️ Free Update for PS5 UsersCheck out our blog for more info 👉https://t.co/CXTyfHFyvN pic.twitter.com/psSLo63ReF
— Santa Monica Studio – God of War Ragnarök (@SonySantaMonica) February 1, 2021
While adding 4K (through checkerboarding) and 60 frames per second may not seem new since the PS4 Pro also had those features, the big deal here is that players on PS5 no longer have to choose between each mode. They get the best of both worlds with this update. Despite having a stronger system, PS5 owners playing the PS4 game through backwards compatibility either had to pick 4K or 60 frames per second. Now there is no choice. However, players can still pick the “Favor Resolution” mode that offers a 4K checkboarded output and 30 frames per second if they are itching for a lower frame rate.
Some God of War players could have already had the game running 60 frames per second and 4K on the PS5, but it took some work. The original disc version shipped with an unlocked frame rate, meaning physical media owners could run the game at these increased specs if they reinstalled the game on their PS5 offline. Later patches took away this ability, locking digital owners out of this workaround. The Last Guardian, another one of Sony’s first-party titles, also has an unlocked frame rate on its 1.0 disc version, but the publisher has not implied that it will give this 2016 game a similar update.
Other last-gen games have also released patches that have boosted performance or combined the game’s two other modes. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order was one of the most recent examples, as Respawn pushed out an update in January that offered 60 frames per second and a higher resolution; effectively combining its performance and quality modes. Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, and the surprisingly decent VR title Blood and Truth are just a few other Sony titles that run considerably better on the PS5.
