The newly official confirmation that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is getting a PC port prompted PlayStation 5 mockery among some gamers, who took online to recall a prominent marketing campaign for the console that they feel has aged quite poorly. Sony announced the PC version of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart earlier today, stating that the port is releasing July 26.
Despite the fact that the PS5 is pushing three nowadays, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart remains its only truly "next-gen" game. Sony wasn't planning for that to happen, but eventually decided to keep supporting the PS4 with cross-gen releases after pandemic-induced semiconductor shortages prevented it from meeting the global PS5 demand. The latest installment in the Ratchet and Clank series was already out by the time that strategic shift happened, with Sony using Rift Apart to aggressively market the PS5 SSD storage in the run-up to the game's release.
Since then, the Japanese company not only paused its single-platform-focused approach, but even committed to PlayStation PC ports in a big way. However, some gamers aren't willing to let Sony live down its 2020 claims that the latest Ratchet and Clank game was only made possible by the PS5 hardware. Shortly following today's announcement of the Rift Apart PC port, "PS5 SSD" started trending on Twitter, with hundreds of people recalling the claims that the game's dimension-hoping mechanics demonstrate the unique capabilities of the console's solid-state drive.
While many merely mocked the 2020 marketing lingo concerning the PS5 storage tech, others used today's announcement as an opportunity to highlight how the console is in an unenviable position, content-wise; not only has Sony's cross-gen support prevented true system sellers from materializing, but the arrival of Rift Apart on PC means that the PS5 has now actually started losing what few exclusives it has.
Since Sony chose to omit the Rift Apart PC port from its latest PlayStation Showcase only to announce it six days later, it's plausible that the company anticipated these reactions. After all, the May 24 event was already criticized by the fandom for lacking in first-party exclusives. Given just how many PlayStation Showcase 2023 games are coming to Xbox, it's likely that Sony didn't want to reinforce that argument by announcing the PC port of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart during the broadcast.
While this hasn't been the greatest month for Sony's marketing department, PlayStation 5 owners still have plenty of things to look forward to in the near future, starting with some high-profile exclusives like Final Fantasy 16 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The Japanese company is also rumored to be planning another PlayStation Showcase for the second half of 2023, which is likely to offer a glimpse at the planned PS5 game lineup for 2024.