The PlayStation 4 was launched almost 13 years in the past. On the earth of video video games, it’s a dinosaur. And but, in 2025, throughout Summer season Recreation Fest’s many reveals and directs, new PS4 video games had been being introduced alongside PS5 and Swap 2 video games. Seems this outdated machine nonetheless has some life left in it, although that is likely to be a horrible signal for the online game trade.
Whereas watching Summer season Recreation Fest 2025, and begging for the rancid occasion to finish, I noticed one thing odd. A newly revealed LEGO co-op puzzle sport was going to get a PS4 port. Then, one other LEGO sport in the identical showcase was confirmed to be getting a PS4 launch as properly. By the tip of Geoff Keighley’s Not-E3 occasion, three new PS4 video games had been introduced. Bizarre.
So, I watched carefully in the course of the Xbox occasion on Sunday to see if this pattern continued. And I noticed two extra video games that had been introduced that day and had been headed to PS4. Sure, in the course of the massive Xbox showcase, two video games had been revealed which can be additionally coming to PS4. Certainly one of them you may need heard of: Name of Obligation: Black Ops 7 is coming to PS4 and Xbox One, but it isn’t confirmed to be launching on Swap 2 later this yr.
After the mud had settled, I skimmed via all of the showcases and occasions over the previous few days and located at the very least 11 upcoming video video games that appeared throughout Summer season Recreation Fest and are additionally arriving on PS4.
Right here’s that listing, with brand-new video games marked with an asterisk:
Sonic Racing Cross Worlds*LEGO Voyagers *LEGO PartyMarvel Cosmic InvasionMouse PI For Rent*Scott Pilgrim EX *Planet of Lana 2Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 4*Name of Obligation Black Ops 7Monument Valley 3Dying Mild: The Beast (after the launch of the PS5/XSX variations)
It’s very doubtless that I missed a number of PS4 video games that appeared in a few of the many occasions that occurred over the whole thing of Summer season Recreation Fest final week. Nonetheless, 11 video games touchdown on an almost 13-year-old console is unusual. That will be like Activision placing out a PS2 model of Name of Obligation: Ghosts alongside the launch of the PS4 in 2013. Or EA placing out a online game on PS1 and PS3 in 2006.
The rationale PS4 video games are nonetheless being made in 2025
So, what’s occurring? Nicely, a part of the rationale we’re seeing video games nonetheless launching on PS4 is that video video games aren’t visually evolving as quickly and vastly as they as soon as did. The distinction between a PS4 and PS5 sport is nowhere close to as notable as earlier generational leaps, that means numerous video games, particularly smaller initiatives and indie titles, can run completely fantastic on the older machines.
And lots of people are nonetheless, 5 years after the launch of PS5, gaming on the older Sony dwelling console. That’s why EA spent cash to backport Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to PS4 and Xbox One after it launched as a “next-gen” unique. If individuals are nonetheless shopping for new video games on PS4 (and Xbox One), and porting stuff to those older machines isn’t that rather more work, then why not launch a brand new LEGO sport on the older units?
To be clear, I don’t assume it’s a foul factor that publishers are supporting older {hardware} for this lengthy. Video video games are costly. And on account of tariffs and different elements, video games and consoles are all getting costlier. The PS5 prices extra at present than it did at launch in 2020, which is simply as bizarre as devs nonetheless making video games for a 13-year-old machine.
We’re in unusual, unprecedented, and never nice occasions for the trade. So, I suppose I shouldn’t be stunned that the following massive Name of Obligation is arriving on PS4 and Xbox One, regardless of these consoles being over a decade outdated. It’s not a foul factor, however it’s a signal of the larger issues dealing with the trade and the remainder of the world.
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