Developer miHoYo confirms that the PS5 version of Genshin Impact will launch "soon" with the reveal of the features specific to this port of the game, as well as an announcement trailer.
To be clear, Genshin Impact is already playable on the PS5 thanks to backward compatibility. It was originally launched for the PS4, and the same version of the game was made downloadable on the PS5's online store. And there's already somewhat of a substantial difference between the two. The PS4 version runs at 30 FPS and suffers from lagging, slow loading times, and buffered rendering of textures. But playing the same version of Genshin Impact on the PS5 runs at 60 FPS, and renders new areas and textures much more quickly. Even the game's title screen is much smoother on the PS5.
Already, Genshin Impact is a stunning game in terms of its art and graphics, but miHoYo plans to take it a step further with the PS5 version, coming soon. Though a release date hasn't been announced, hints show that the native PS5 version is coming later this spring. Looking at the footage in the newest trailer, the Windblume Festival makes an appearance in the visuals of Mondstadt, perhaps indicating that it'll be on its way within Version 1.4's lifespan.
Along with consistently running the game at 60 FPS, the native PS5 version of Genshin Impact will see loading times improved even further and 4K visuals. This also means enhanced textures across the game, and Genshin Impact's PS5 version will support the DualSense controller's functions.
Though, in a press statement, miHoYo states that the PS5 version allows the team to incorporate fresh ideas, so far, there's no indication of a difference between the two games other than some graphical enhancements. But it will be interesting to see what other differences will crop up in the future between the PS4 and PS5 versions of Genshin Impact.
Of course, cross-saving will be supported between PS4 and PS5 versions of Genshin Impact as a PlayStation account is needed to access the game, but there still doesn't seem to be any support between PC and PlayStation or mobile and PlayStation, a feature that has been highly requested in the community.
Other players are still waiting for a port of Genshin Impact to the Switch, but that would likely have graphics closer to the PS4 than the PS5 as the current Switch model doesn't support 4K or 60 FPS. Everything considered, the PS5 version of Genshin Impact seems to be some graphic upgrades.
Genshin Impact is out now for mobile, PC, and PS4, with PS5 and Switch versions in development.