Real-time strategy fans have a special occasion to look forward to—the release of Homeworld 3. It is the first numbered entry in the Homeworld series since 2003, and the hype is definitely there. Can you play Homeworld 3 on PS4 and Xbox One, though?
It’s amazing to think about, but the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One turned 10 years old in 2023. A full decade is an eternity in the technological world, which means that more and more new games ignore the old generation of consoles and focus their optimization efforts entirely on the more relevant PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Homeworld 3’s PC requirements are much more manageable than most AAA games that came out in 2023 and should, in theory, run at a smooth FPS on old-gen consoles. Unfortunately, hardware capabilities aren’t enough to bring the title to old-gen consoles.
Is Homeworld 3 on PS4 and Xbox One?
No, Homeworld 3 is not on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. What’s more, Blackbird Interactive’s game won’t be released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S either. Homeworld 3 is a PC exclusive and will be available to purchase through Steam and the Epic store.
Why is Homeworld 3 not on PS4 and Xbox One?
With Homeworld 3 being absent from all consoles, it is quite clear that the PS4 and Xbox One’s limited hardware is not the problem here. The reason is much more practical. Real-time strategies and consoles have never mixed together too well. The genre is heavily dependent on a mouse and keyboard control scheme, which has kept its most prominent series, including Homeworld, mostly exclusive to PC.
The only Homeworld game to ever be released on a platform other than PC is Homeworld Mobile, which came out in 2022. This recent venture into the mobile market may have given false hope to console gamers that maybe developer Blackbird and publisher Gearbox will look into porting Homeworld 3 to the PS4 and Xbox One, or at the very least to current-gen consoles, but no such plans have been announced.
If there were any such aspirations, Gearbox would have most likely revealed them at the PC Gaming Show on Nov. 30. That’s when the publisher announced Homeworld 3’s slightly delayed release date, all the various editions, the start of a pre-order campaign, and other exciting details. If nothing about a console version was brought up there, then it’s a rather safe bet that Homeworld 3 will remain a PC exclusive.
