Is Deathloop on PS4? Director explains next-gen "level of ambition"
If you've heard the hype for Deathloop, you might be hoping for a PS4 version.
Legions of gamers around the globe are declaring their love for Deathloop today, with the game launching into the world and receiving rave reviews from a huge percentage of people who've been lucky enough to play it already - but if you're a PS4 owner, you might be wondering whether you can play Deathloop at all.
Indeed, the Deathloop release date is upon us, but you will have already felt the sting of disappointment if you've tried and failed to play the game on PS4. You may have even seen reports on Twitter that a PS4 version of the game briefly, erroneously appeared on the PlayStation Store. That brief flicker of hope only added insult to injury for owners of previous-gen hardware.
If you're unsure about whether Deathloop is available on PS4, you've come to the right place for some clear and concise answers. Sadly, though, this probably won't be the answer you're looking for. Read on for the details.
Is Deathloop on PS4?
Sadly, Deathloop is not available on PS4 and it doesn't look likely that it ever will be. Speaking to PLAY Magazine (via GamesRadar), Deathloop game director Dinga Bakaba implied that older systems like the PS4 simply can't handle what Deathloop is doing.
Bakaba said, "I don't think that we would have been able to preserve the level of ambition of this game were it not for the move to next-gen." The game's art director Sebastien Mitton added that the environments in Deathloop are "as big or bigger than Dishonored 2, with a huge density."
Deathloop has a number of large open-world areas that you can explore in any order that you like (once you're through the tutorial), with countless AI-driven characters behaving in unique ways around the map. Rendering that amount of content all at once likely wouldn't have been easy for the PS4, particularly with the graphical fidelity that Deathloop is aiming for. It makes sense, then, that game cannot and will not run on PS4.
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Where can you play Deathloop?
For now, Deathloop is only available on PS5 and PC - if you have a PlayStation 5 or a relatively strong computer, then, you should be able to download the game and play it today. The best prices we've seen for Deathloop are £47.95 for the PS5 version at GameByte, or £36.99 for the PC version at CD Keys.
If you have saved up enough money to buy a PS5 but you've been struggling to find a place to purchase Sony's powerful new console, our regularly updated PS5 stock page may be able to help you on that front.
It's also worth noting that Deathloop was created by Arkane, one of the studios within Bethesda that was recently acquired by Microsoft/Xbox. With that in mind, it seems likely that there will be a Deathloop Xbox release date at some point in the future. But due to a pre-existing deal between Bethesda with Sony, Deathloop cannot launch on any consoles - except for the PS5 - until 14th September 2022 at the earliest.
What should PS4 players play instead of Deathloop?
If you've only got a PS4 and you're not able/willing to buy a PS5, you might be wondering which games you can play that scratch a similar itch. You can't play Deathloop on PS4, but you can play other games that will give you a comparable feeling.
Deathloop is all about exploring an island, wrapping your head around a time loop, earning some supernatural abilities, and ultimately using everything you've learned to enact some bad-ass assassinations. You can find similar elements in loads of games.
For example, the team at Arkane made several games before Deathloop that feature some similar ideas - you'll find another mysterious locale to explore in Arkane's 2017 sci-fi game Prey, and Prey's Mooncrash DLC also features a time loop of sorts. You can click either of those links if you'd like to learn more and consider making a purchase.
You'll find similar supernatural abilities to the ones in Deathloop in Arkane's Dishonored series, which consists of three titles - Dishonored, Dishonored 2, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - all of which are available on PS4 at those links. There are plenty of assassinations in the Dishonored games, too.
Speaking of assassinations, you won't find a better contract killer than Agent 47, who recently starred in a trilogy of excellent games from IO Interactive - Hitman, Hitman 2 and Hitman 3 - which you can play on PS4 now. Again, those links will take you to a product page if you're interested.
Until you can play Deathloop on PS5 or PC (or eventually Xbox Series X/S), those are the game's we'd recommend instead! They should keep you busy for quite a while.
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Authors
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.
