Dovetail Games has officially announced that Train Sim World 6 and all future add-on content will no longer be developed for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The news, published on the studio's official blog, marks the end of support for last-generation consoles, a decision that reflects the technological evolution of the industry and the need to fully exploit the potential of the most recent platforms.
Dovetail Games' decision and the technical reasons behind it
According to the development team, Train Sim World titles and new TSW add-on releases will only be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms (Steam, Xbox for PC, and Epic Games). The studio emphasized that this change is essential to give the teams that create TSW content the freedom to take advantage of current-gen hardware, prioritizing the best performance possible and improving visual quality as much as they can. The outdated hardware of old-gen consoles is no longer capable of sustaining the technical ambitions of the train simulator, which requires increasingly high resources to offer a realistic and immersive experience.
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No loss for already purchased content
The good news is that all content already purchased by users on Xbox One and PS4 will remain playable and supported. There will be no removal or deactivation of owned DLC, nor any impossibility to continue playing the base game. The cancellation only applies to future releases, which will no longer see the light on these platforms. This means that those who own the game on last-generation consoles can continue to enjoy the current experience, but will need to consider a hardware upgrade to access upcoming content.
Alternatives for Xbox One players and migration tools
For Xbox One owners, Dovetail Games has provided several solutions to avoid falling behind. Train Sim World 6 supports Xbox Play Anywhere, which allows transferring all progress and purchased content to PC using the Xbox app. This is a notable advantage, although the transfer is limited to the Microsoft Store version and does not work with Steam or Epic Games. Additionally, moving from Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S is seamless and involves no loss of any kind, just as PS4 players can migrate to PS5 while maintaining their purchases. Finally, the game is compatible with Xbox Cloud Gaming, allowing players to continue playing via streaming on compatible devices, even without owning a next-generation console. This option is not available for PS4, as cloud streaming on PlayStation is limited to owners of the PS5 version.
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Industry context and challenges for old-gen consoles
Dovetail Games' decision is not isolated. More and more developers are abandoning last-generation platforms, as demonstrated by the case of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4, which was not released on Xbox One and PS4. This trend is accelerated by the recent price increases of new consoles, making the upgrade more burdensome for consumers. However, the choice to focus on current platforms is understandable, as modern games require increasingly powerful hardware to deliver experiences that meet expectations. As experts point out, it is preferable not to release a product on inadequate hardware rather than compromise the quality of the overall experience. In this scenario, players staying on old consoles must carefully evaluate their options, but they can rely on tools like cloud gaming to maintain access to their favorite titles.
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