You can already play Tower of Fantasy on PC or a smartphone, but Sony has been heavily promoting the PS5 and PS4 port, and that’s because the open world gacha is a timed console exclusive. The small print at the end of the game’s latest launch trailer notes that the PlayStation version is deploying “at least 12 months earlier than any other console”. This is boilerplate language for a timed console exclusive, as we’ve also seen with titles like Forspoken and Deathloop.

In a pretty large PS Blog post, Perfect World Games’ Sky Wang introduced some of the concepts of the conversion, and confirmed that it will be free-to-play on PlayStation platforms. Previously, it had announced a trio of paid pre-orders, but these come with 48-hour early access and additional in-game items; all three purchasable packages are entirely optional, and you’ll be able to try the game at no cost come launch day on 8th August.

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While it will be compared to Genshin Impact due to its art style, this is an online MMO-style experience, as opposed to HoYoverse’s largely offline open world. In addition to questing and battling, there’s a social hub with minigames like mah-jong, and there are even cars and motorbikes to unlock. Players on PS5 and PS4 will get a bonus blue car if they purchase the Ultimate Edition, which is themed around the colour scheme of Sony’s latest console.

Of course, this is a game designed to be expanded upon over time, and the PS Blog notes that launch day is just the beginning of an ongoing update cadence for PlayStation platforms. “Get ready to forge new friendships, unravel mysteries, and embark on a free-to-play adventure like no other in Tower of Fantasy,” concluded Wang. “Grab your controller and let the magic unfold. We can’t wait to meet you on PlayStation.”

[source blog.playstation.com]