A new entry on the official Playstation Blog featured an interview with Horizon series Game Director Mathijs de Jonge. In it, de Jonge discussed the advantages of developing content solely for PS5. Burning Shores, the upcoming DLC for Horizon Forbidden West, was previously announced as being exclusive to the system. Game Director de Jonge said focusing on PS5 development allowed Guerilla to “charge forward” with development without having to plan around PS4 optimization.
Game Director de Jonge talked about how environmental richness was a priority for the Horizon series, and the PS5’s technical power meant they could add more detail while running at higher framerates and resolutions. He also explained that the extra processing power meant they could run simulations faster, as well as making it easier to review sections of the game without stopping for loading times.
Here is de Jonge’s full explanation:
One of our key priorities with Horizon games is to add a ton of detail and richness to our environments. On Horizon Forbidden West, everything we added or increased was something we’d need to have a plan around how to optimize for PS4 as well. On Burning Shores, since we can just focus on PS5, we’ve been able to charge forward and we’re really excited about what we’ve been able to pull off in creating this stunning post-post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles.
The cityscape ruins of LA and its surroundings are highly detailed and require a lot of processing power as well as fast streaming technology to run properly; especially when the player is flying over the lands and can see a lot at once. One of the settlements is situated in and around those detailed ruins, and we were able to squeeze a lot of activity in there.
Another notable one is a particular battle scene that requires a LOT of memory and processing power! To achieve this grand vision both technically and creatively, we definitely were thankful for the many advantages that the PS5 hardware brings.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores will see players traveling to post-post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, which has become a flooded, coastal jungle. You can watch the trailer for it below:
Horizon Forbidden West is immediately available for the PS4 and PS5, and its Burning Shores DLC will release on April 19, 2023 on the PS5.
