Is KSP2 still coming on PS4?

[Jurassic kerbal]

Is KSP2 still coming to the PS4 or just the PS5? Cause I don’t want to buy a PS5 just for KSP2 

[The Aziz]

I hope not. I hope that before 2022 they realize that PS4 is an obsolete tech and they'll just go for new gen.

[Bej Kerman]

4 hours ago, Jurassic kerbal said:

Is KSP2 still coming to the PS4 or just the PS5? Cause I don’t want to buy a PS5 just for KSP2 

Too bad. 

[Jurassic kerbal]

Wow I got rekted 

[The Aziz]

Nah man, I just posted my opinion on that, since devs are currently silent about it.

However, by the time the game is out (they've been saying that pc release is main priority, consoles come later), the ps5 is going to be most likely already at lower price, and also there will be plenty of other games to play, so buying it for one title shouldn't be a problem (unless you really aren't going to play anything else).

[K^2]

It will probably still get released for PS4 and XB1, because expectation is that majority of console gamers are still going to be on last gen at that point.

That said, you'll most definitely have better experience on PS5, XBSX, or remotely recent PC.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Jurassic kerbal said:

Wow I got rekted 

Recommend start saving up now for a pc or PS5

a penny saved is a penny wasted in 2022

 

[MechBFP]

I hope not as well, as I feel the old generation of consoles is severely limiting them.  I could be wrong of course, but we shall see. 

[Jurassic kerbal]

True

[OvinandRusk]

if only we have the devs confirm or deny this

[K^2]

5 hours ago, OvinandRusk said:

if only we have the devs confirm or deny this

They might not be certain themselves yet. They would be certainly targeting PS4/XB1 right now, a Pro/X version of either might even be their primary platform for development, but as the game gets bigger, they might start running into performance issues, switching primary target to next gen consoles, and then at some point a decision will have to be made whether it's worth the effort to get the game running on the old gen. And it will be a pure marketing decision, depending largely on what percentage of console players out there are going to be on which generation.

[shdwlrd]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but in the very beginning they were very skeptical on developing a console release, and never committed to one. Since the studio and release changes they have never mentioned it. We don't know if they are going to make a console release or not. 

We can't say which consoles (if any) that KSP2 will be released on. We also can't rely on KSP1 as an indicator for the future as they are being developed by different studios.

[MechBFP]

19 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but in the very beginning they were very skeptical on developing a console release, and never committed to one. Since the studio and release changes they have never mentioned it. We don't know if they are going to make a console release or not. 

We can't say which consoles (if any) that KSP2 will be released on. We also can't rely on KSP1 as an indicator for the future as they are being developed by different studios.

Well to be fair the website still blatantly says PS4 and Xbox One on it.

https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/game/kerbal-space-program-2/

[The Aziz]

It states 2022, so the page was changed not long ago, so I guess they still stand by their words about old gen.

Time will tell.

[InfernoSD]

23 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but in the very beginning they were very skeptical on developing a console release, and never committed to one. Since the studio and release changes they have never mentioned it. We don't know if they are going to make a console release or not. 

We can't say which consoles (if any) that KSP2 will be released on. We also can't rely on KSP1 as an indicator for the future as they are being developed by different studios.

There will definitely be a console version. I'm not aware of any Take Two games that don't make it to consoles. Even their series that are tough to play on a controller like Civilization and XCOM reach consoles eventually. Problem is sometimes the console port comes years behind the PC release.

[Guest]

I didn't know this until recently, but PS4 and Xbox one are...  7 years old...

That is such a long time ago in the world of tech... I think they should drop the plans for releasing on Xbox one and PS4

further on, that will mean they will be 9 years old by release. Imagine making a game that has to support tech from 9 years ago...

[Lord Aurelius]

Given how well KSP1 currently "works" on last gen consoles AFTER all the bugfixes and how the release of KSP1 and CP2077 on last gen consoles went, I hope the devs quietly scrub mention of PS4 and Xbox One from the page and don't waste any time trying to get it working on those systems.

KSP 1 is CPU bound more than anything else and I don't want to see KSP2 hobbled by a misguided notion that they need to somehow make it work on such underpowered hardware (see https://www.anandtech.com/show/16336/installing-windows-on-an-xbox-one-s-apu-the-chuwi-aerobox-review).

In all honesty, I hope they don't focus on consoles at all until KSP2 is done on PC. KSP1 was hurt pretty badly (we're still recovering from it years later) by the rush to 1.0 due to needing to have a "released" version for consoles, and I really don't want to see a repeat of anything like that for KSP2.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Lord Aurelius

[Dr. Kerbal]

I personally ,lay think that hey should release on the PC first. First direct download then on STEAM download. Then on consoles. But most KSPp console players play on PS4 and XBox1 (most recent). And plays KSP hasn’t been released on PS5. So the public’s expectations is for it to be released on PS4 and XBox1. Maybe later than PS5. It’s would hurt for making money because some people might not get KSP2 if it is not avalable on the same consoles as KSP.

On 12/27/2020 at 5:03 PM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

I didn't know this until recently, but PS4 and Xbox one are...  7 years old...

That is such a long time ago in the world of tech... I think they should drop the plans for releasing on Xbox one and PS4

further on, that will mean they will be 9 years old by release. Imagine making a game that has to support tech from 9 years ago...

This is true. But most KSP console players are on these old tech so...

[Meecrob]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Kerbal said:

So the public’s expectations is for it to be released on PS4 and XBox1. Maybe later than PS5. It would hurt for making money because some people might not get KSP2 if it is not avalable on the same consoles as KSP.

Lets ask CDProjekt how that $1 Billion stock devaluation went for them after trying to squeeze their game onto a console that objectively can't run it so customers wouldn't have to upgrade.

"This is true. But most KSP console players are on these old tech so..."

A quick survey of console players on this board says they hate the fact that they got a half-baked version of the game. Seems better to make a proper console version for next-gen, than pull a CP2077 and possibly entrench the idea that console players are second class to PC players.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Meecrob

[The Aziz]

Afaik they did say that console release comes later

Also the page on psstore says that the first game can work on ps5. Not optimized for it, but should work. Though, with current supply shortages I haven't heard of anyone who has the game AND new console and tried it.

Then again, ksp1 is on PS4/X1 but the port was indeed based on game from first half of previous decade. Ksp2 won't be any of it.

[K^2]

5 hours ago, Dr. Kerbal said:

First direct download then on STEAM download.

That's like leaving piles of money on the floor. You don't want to waste a good release hype by not having the game available on a platform where most people will expect to find it. Especially when your game runs on Unity and platform you're talking about is Steam. Yes, you'll get to keep more of your revenue with direct sales, but it's not going to make up for lost volume. Not by a long shot.

Console release is in the same category. Next gen is just a no-brainer. (I'll keep calling it next gen until you can actually go to a store and buy a PS5/XBSX.) There's no reason not to release on these. Yeah, performance won't match up to high end PCs, but it will be better than what some people are intending to play KSP2 on PCs. And all you have to do to not muck up that launch is basically have a good UI team.

The current gen is a bigger question. Thing is, though, that they aren't shipping on bespoke engine that they have to somehow squeeze onto current gen. It's Unity, so the game will either do fine on consoles or it won't. Delaying won't make a lot of difference. The other part is that, again, because it's Unity and because current gen has more than enough horse power to handle rendering in KSP2, you don't have to worry about the console release being full of bugs and glitches. Really, the only limitation is going to be that threshold for ship size and number of ships your system can handle before losing frames is going to be a lot lower. And it is something you can play around. Some of the optimizations they basically have to get in to make KSP2 work across the board will also help mitigate these problems on current generation of consoles.

Bottom line, yeah, performance on current gen will suck, but you aren't going to help that without completely rebuilding the core of the game, and Intercept doesn't have enough resources for that. So delaying won't help. It's a question of whether you release for current gen or not, and financially, it makes sense to release. I just hope T2/PD are transparent about the fact that the game will not play as well on PS4/XB1 and make sure people get free upgrade whenever they do jump consoles. I think, that's the most reasonable way to handle all of this.

[Guest]

17 hours ago, Dr. Kerbal said:

First direct download then on STEAM download.

I think that direct download was an option only because at the time Steam didn't allow for automatic access to the store to self-published titles, you had to go through that terrible Greenlight lottery (which is still better by a mile compared to ther platforms who's standard policy was "no you can't").

With Steam Direct none of that is needed and, even putting aside the visibility Steam brings, I don't know if a small studio would gain anything in distributing their game digitally directly, costs for servers and customer support are not low and I suspect they could even be higher than that "30% Steam tax". (Maybe @K^2 could confirm if this is true)

Anyway, nothing of the above counts with KSP2, the game is published by Private Division, they'll handle the distribution, not Intercept, and being backed by T2 I'm sure they can cut a better deal with Valve if they need it.

 

[K^2]

5 hours ago, Master39 said:

With Steam Direct none of that is needed and, even putting aside the visibility Steam brings, I don't know if a small studio would gain anything in distributing their game digitally directly, costs for servers and customer support are not low and I suspect they could even be higher than that "30% Steam tax". (Maybe @K^2 could confirm if this is true)

PD has good relations with Steam. I don't think they even need to go through Steam Direct.

As for setting up your own distribution, it's not that expensive anymore, even if you pay for cloud hosting. If you go with almost any sort of canned DRM solution, it will have an option for verifying license via a token, so you just need to set up a simple database for licenses and a store front that can take cc payments, say, via Stripe. Store like that is cheap to maintain and wouldn't be expensive to outsource the development on. I'm glossing over some details like taxes and having end points for launcher to check for updates, but it's a solved problem in web development. A game dev team might not have internal experts on this sort of stuff, but like I said, it's easy to outsource. It's not free, but for a large title, can be had for way less than 30% of revenue.

No, I would say it's all about visibility, marketing, and ease of access. In general, marketing costs start at half of your total publishing costs and go up from there. If you put a game like KSP2 on Steam, it will be on the front page for a couple of weeks. That kind of exposure honestly is worth the cut that Steam will take. There are also a lot of people out there who will be hesitant about putting in their payment details with your web site. They'll also be weary of yet another store and yet another launcher, with who knows how many bugs and update problems. You can make your store front flawless, but you can't make people believe it without a lot of marketing and PR. Steam makes it a one click purchase for hundreds of millions of potential customers. You can't buy that with marketing.

On that note, cross-publishing on other store fronts makes sense for all the same reasons. Hassle of getting your Steam-ready game up on GoG and Epic GS is minimal. I don't think they'll generate nearly the same kind of sales, but any additional sales you get there is pure profit, and they take similar or smaller cuts. PD already has relationship with Epic, so that should be simple, and GoG tends to be pretty chill about what gets in. So no reason not to add these two as distribution platforms as well. Although, with a small asterisk about multiplayer and match-making which would probably take us on too much of a tangent.

[kspnerd122]

I feel like we should release it on PS4/XB1 but once it is out, we just do what minecraft did to older consoles, do a last update, fix as many bugs as possible, and continue to let em play untill their console breaks down and gets replaced, multiplayer could still work, as PC players still retain the ability to use older versions, also, if u can afford a console, u can afford a decent PC, especially because YOU CAN BUY IT USED IN GOOD CONDITION FOR LIKE 1/4 original price

Best gaming PC i found(Not counting custom ones) has about 32 GB of ram, and a pretty good CPU

Also, MAKE KSP 2 BE ABLE TO USE MULTIPLE CORES, SERIOUSLY, IF IT COULD USE MULTIPLE CORES MOST LAPTOPS WOULD NOT EVEN STRUGGLE TO HANDLE KSP IF IT WERENT FOR GRAPHICS, AND GRAPHICS CARDS EXIST AND CAN BE INSTALLED, SERIOUSLY, JUST RELEASE IT, ADD ALL THE FEATURES U PLANNED, AND THEN STOP DEVELOPMENT OF THE VERSION, IS IT THAT HARD.

[DunaManiac]

1 hour ago, kspnerd122 said:

MAKE KSP 2 BE ABLE TO USE MULTIPLE CORES, SERIOUSLY,

I don't believe that is even possible, it's been discussed before in other threads, and I think (don't hold me to this) that was the conclusion.

My thoughts on this is a hard maybe. It's wouldn't be very commercially viable to release it on the PS4 and Xbox 1, but they did promise it.