In brief: Biomutant is one of those games that we’ve been anticipating for a long time. For those looking forward to playing the game on the PS5, there’s a bit of unwelcome news: it won’t support native 4K resolutions on Sony’s console.
Publisher THQ Nordic has been showing off footage of its open-world action RPG on PC and consoles recently. On the Xbox Series X, it runs at dynamic 4K and 60fps, while the less-powerful Xbox Series S outputs a still visually impressive dynamic 1440p@60fps. On the PS5, however, Biomutant runs at 1080p@60fps upscaled to 4K.
It’s worth remembering that there are no PS5/Xbox Series X/S-specific versions of Biomutant launching on May 25; the PS4/Xbox One versions are backward compatible with the new consoles. When asked why native 4K has been disabled on Sony’s machine, THQ Nordic said it had been deactivated “due to technical reasons.”
The PS5 footage (above) begins with the following disclaimer: “The footage you are about to see has been captured on a retail PS5. With this build, the option for native 4k on PlayStation has been deactivated due to stability- and performance-related reasons. What you see here is 1080p @60fps upscaled to 4k @60fps. It will remain deactivated for the release version, too. It will not be a native current-gen experience. More information on that will follow soon.”
The publisher did say that PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Biomutant are in the works, so these will presumably offer a more next-gen experience. However, the company added that it has yet to decide if these will be offered as free upgrades to owners.
Biomutant launches on May 25 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.