Ratchet & Clank's PS5 upgrade arrives early - and you can still get the game free

By Eric Abent/March 31, 2021 10:32 am EST

Just a couple of days ago, Insomniac Games announced that Ratchet & Clank (2016) would be getting a next-gen PS5 upgrade. When Insomniac made that announcement, it said it was targeting the upgrade's release for April, but it turns out the company was pretty far off the mark with that release target. That's because the update is actually live now, which means that it's landing while Ratchet & Clank is still free through Sony's Play at Home promo.

The update allows Ratchet & Clank to run at 60 frames per second when played a on a PlayStation 5. We're assuming that many of the PS4 Pro enhancements are still present in this version as well, which would explain why Insomniac has really only talked about improved frame rate in tweets discussing the next-gen upgrade. Regardless of what else is there, that boost to frame rate could warrant a Ratchet & Clank revisit.

Another thing that could warrant such a revisit is the upcoming arrival of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The new title will be out in June and is one of the first exclusives for the PS5 from Sony's slate of first-party developers following a collection of launch titles that included Demon's Souls, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

Keep in mind that Ratchet & Clank (2016) is still available for free through Sony's Play at Home program, but it won't be for too much longer. After being free to claim and keep for the entire month of March for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users, that promotion wraps up later tonight at 8 PM PDT/11 PM EDT. That isn't the end of the Play at Home promos entirely, as there's still a very solid collection of indie games to claim.

So, there you have it: Ratchet & Clank's next-gen upgrade arrived earlier than any of us (including the people at Insomniac, apparently) anticipated, and it's landing while the game is still free to claim on the PlayStation Network. Be sure to claim the game if you haven't already, because today is your last chance to do so.