PlayStation 5 Details Revealed; ‘Grand Theft Auto’ To Be Free On Sony Console

Dade Hayes
·4 min read

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Sony lifted the veil Thursday on PlayStation 5, the video game console it hopes will be a significant lure for consumers this holiday season.

In a live-streamed video presentation lasting more than an hour, Sony Interactive Entertainment revealed new details for the PS5, including its design and lineup of new games. Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto will be included for free, and there are two dozen other games heading to the platform (see full list below).

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The unit’s two-tone design is a shift from previous versions and gives off distinct imperial stormtrooper vibes. PS5 will be available in both a standard model with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive, and a digital model without a disc drive.

Normally in June, the video game industry descends on Los Angeles for the E3 trade show. Like most other events, E3 had to be scuttled due to COVID-19. Video game publishers and platform companies have seen strong demand for their wares and a surge of spending and usage, similar to streaming.

Microsoft also plans an updated model in its popular Xbox line, the Series X, which is also targeting the fourth quarter of the year.

In a note to clients Wednesday, UBS analyst Eric Sheridan said he interviewed leading video game experts in lieu of his annual conversations at E3. All agreed that “COVID-19 has been a major tailwind for the industry across all platforms (especially social multi-player games),” he wrote, adding that “store closures have accelerated the shift to digital downloads.”

Before the big push to release the PS5, Sony last fall announced the departure of Shawn Layden, head of Sony Worldwide Studios and overseer of PlayStation.

“With PlayStation 5, we are making a significant leap to deliver a truly new generation of transformative play experiences that will redefine expectations for what games can be,” said Jim Ryan, president and CEO of SIE. “Worlds will be richer and more beautiful, they’ll captivate your senses in ways you didn’t think possible, and you’ll be able to experience them much more seamlessly, with lightning fast loading. Today’s showcase is just a glimpse of what’s to come in the next generation, and we want to thank our community for taking this journey to PS5’s launch with us.”

One of the biggest series of all time, Grand Theft Auto, will be coming to PS5, with enhanced and expanded versions of Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online to launch on PS5 in the second half of 2021. In addition, a new standalone version of Grand Theft Auto Online will also be made available, with access to all PS5 owners for free within the first three months of the title launching. Once the entitlement is claimed, the game is theirs to keep, and with a PlayStation Plus membership, PS5 owners will be able to play GTA Online as much as they want.

Finally, starting today, all GTAV PS4 owners will get GTA$1,000,000 every month until the PS5 version of the game launches in 2021.

PS5 Games from SIE Worldwide Studios (with second-party partners):

Astro’s Playroom (Japan Studio)

Demon’s Souls (Bluepoint Games / Japan Studio)

Destruction All Stars (Lucid Games / XDEV)

Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital)

Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games)

Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales (Insomniac Games)

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games)

Returnal (Housemarque / XDEV)

Sackboy A Big Adventure (Sumo Digital / XDEV)

PS5 Games from third-party publishers and developers:

Bugsnax (Young Horses)

DEATHLOOP (Bethesda)

Ghostwire: Tokyo (Bethesda)

Godfall (Gearbox Publishing / Counterplay Games)

Goodbye Volcano High (KO-OP)

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar Games)

HITMAN 3 (IO Interactive)

JETT : The Far Shore (Superbrothers)

Kena: Bridge of the Spirits (Ember Lab)

Little Devil Inside (Neostream Interactive)

NBA 2K21 (2K, Visual Concepts)

Oddworld Soulstorm (Oddworld Inhabitants™)

Pragmata (Capcom)

Project Athia (Square Enix/Luminous Productions)

Resident Evil Village (Capcom)

Solar Ash (Annapurna Interactive / Heart Machine)

Stray (Annapurna / Blue Twelve Studio)

Tribes of Midgard (Gearbox Publishing / Norsfell)

The Pathless (Annapurna Interactive / Giant Squid)

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