Some PlayStation 5 launch games are next-gen exclusive

A selection of Sony's first-party PS5 launch games will be next-gen exclusive and won't be held back by last-gen PS4 hardware.

Some of Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 launch games will be exclusive to the next-gen console, giving developers total freedom to push the PS5's beefy Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU tech to their limits.

Developer sources tell Kotaku's Jason Schreier that a portion of the PS5's first-party launch games won't be be cross-gen, and won't be playable on the PlayStation 4.

"I've heard some of the PS5 launch titles will be PS5-only. Some of the stuff I've heard about is PS5 only," Schreier said in a recent Kotaku Splitscreen podcast.

"I haven't heard anything about Xbox first-party games, but I'm sure their stuff is going to be on as much stuff as possible, as usual. Actually they already said Halo: Infinite is going to be cross-gen. They certainly care much less about exclusives."

This is great news for PlayStation 5 owners, who will have a selection of games specifically optimized for the platform.

It's also great for developers who want to squeeze out every last drop of the PS5's highly-synergized hardware. Devs won't have to scale their game for the PS4's woefully outdated Jaguar APU hardware and hold things back to ensure cross-gen parity.

We'll see these exclusives leverage the new SoC to push insane perf like native 4K 60FPS (and maybe even 4K 120FPS), next-gen atmospheric effects with raytracing, all while eliminating loading times with the new onboard SSD solution to supercharge storage flow.

Expect tech demo levels of dazzling performance and visual fidelity from Sony's most talented first-party studios.

PlayStation 5 specs and details:

• Custom SoC with second-gen Navi GPU, Zen 2 8-core, 16 thread CPU
• Navi, Zen SoC uses new AMD RDNA 2.0 architecture
• Ultra-fast SSD
• Support for 4K 120 Hz TVs
• Ray-tracing enabled
• 8K graphics support (probably video, not gaming)
• Plays all PS4 games
• Separate games that ship on BD-XL Blu-ray discs
• New controller with extensive haptic and tactile feedback

So which games will be PS5 exclusives?

Possibly Gran Turismo 7, which will probably deliver crazy photorealistic visuals with buttery-smooth frame rates, and maybe even the new Spider-Man sequel.

Maybe even Ghosts of Tsushima, too.

The bulk of PlayStation 5's games library will be cross-gen, though. Big-name publishers aren't going to abandon the PS4's 100 million install base, so we'll see upcoming titles like the new Viking-themed Assassin's Creed be available on PS5 and PS4, ditto with Battlefield 6, and pretty much all Activision games.

"I would say most games get cross-gen support, from what I've heard. Certainly all the third-party stuff. I imagine something like Assassin's Creed: Kingdom, the Viking one, is definitely going to be on PS4, Xbox One, Scarlett, PS5--even Stadia. I imagine that's a pain in the ass for developers who have to suddenly ship on seven SKUs at once, it's crazy," Schreier said.

Sony is expected to reveal the PS5 in a special event in February 2020. The console will release in Holiday 2020, and it may cost $499.

Check below for more info:

PlayStation 5 Coverage:

• Leaked PlayStation 5 devkit photos show new DualShock controller
• PS5, Xbox Scarlett SSD may use Optane-like ReRAM to supercharge speeds
• NVIDIA G-Sync monitors to improve PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett
• PlayStation 5: Everything We Know So Far
• PlayStation 5 confirmed to have 8C/16T Zen 2 CPU from AMD
• PS5, Project Scarlett may use Samsung's 6th gen V-NAND NVMe SSDs
• PS5 backward compatibility confirmed, will play PS4 games
• Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 has 4K 120Hz output support
• PS5, Project Scarlett to hit over 10TFLOPs of power, sources say
• PS4 will be supported into 2022, to live alongside PS5
• Sony: ultra-high-speed SSD is 'the key' to next-gen PS5
• PS5 dev kit rumor: 'ultra-fast RAM', Navi GPU with 13 TFLOPs
• PlayStation 5 rumored to ship with 2TB of super-fast SSD for $499
• Insider: PlayStation 5 dev kit faster than Xbox Scarlett right now
• PS5 cartridges aren't real, patents are for Sony kids toys
• PS5's SSD may benefit PS4 games the most
• PS5 powered by Navi in 2020, AMD making Navi with Sony input
• Cloud-powered PlayStation controller may let you play free game demos
• Gran Turismo 7 is a PlayStation 5 launch title: launches Nov 20, 2020
• PS5 confirmed to support 8K video, ray tracing, all on Navi
• PlayStation 5 rumored to cost $499, launches November 20, 2020
• PlayStation game demos are coming back with Sony's ambitious new plan
• PS5 controller: Built-in mic, USB-C, no lightbar, ergonomic design
• PlayStation 5 concept video shows totally new design
• Sony solves PS5's biggest issue
• Sony: PS5 development going according to plan
• New Viking Assassin's Creed may be next-gen console launch game
• AMD working on 'secret sauce' for next-gen Xbox/PlayStation
• The first real photo of a PlayStation 5 dev kit appears
• Next-gen PS5/Xbox Scarlett open-world game: 'best real-time graphics'
• Sony restructures workforce to prepare for PS5
• PlayStation VR 2: built-in cameras, wireless, ready for PS5
• PS5 games will ship on 100GB Blu-ray BDXL discs
• PS5 and Xbox Scarlett will both handle ray tracing differently
• PlayStation 5 could feature AI-powered 'PlayStation Assist'
• Sony won't abandon singleplayer story-driven games on PS5
• PS5 rumor: GPU is nearly as powerful as RTX 2080, GPU clocked at 2GHz
• PlayStation 5 rumored to be unveiled on February 12, 2020
• Sony to raise PS5 cost thanks to U.S. tariffs