The soft-body driving sandbox BeamNG.drive is finally leaving the PC-only club. The developer confirmed in a short trailer that the game hits PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro on October 19, and it won’t arrive quietly – the console release comes bundled with the biggest update the game has received so far.
Split-screen is the headline surprise
The PS5 version brings something PC players have asked about for years: a split-screen mode for local multiplayer. You can already wishlist the game on the PS Store, though the exact price hasn’t been announced yet. If it lines up with the Steam version, expect something around $25.
One thing to keep in mind: this isn’t the long-awaited 1.0 launch. BeamNG.drive has been in early access since 2015, so the game has been in active development for more than a decade and still isn’t formally finished. That hasn’t hurt its reputation – on Steam it sits at 97% positive out of more than 400,000 user reviews.
What the new update adds
- brand-new split-screen mode
- visual overhaul
- lighting overhaul
- improved UI
- reworked photo mode
- new vehicle: Cherrier Ardente
- improved aerodynamics physics system
- night mode on some maps
- free-roam tutorial
- NGRC Rally Utah 2026
- and more
PC players aren’t left out either. BeamNG has teased that the 0.40 update should land on PC around the same time the game arrives on PlayStation 5. You can read up on the previous build on the official blog.
Why BeamNG.drive stands apart
The core of the game is its soft-body physics engine, which according to the developer calculates physics events 2,000 times per second. That’s what produces the brutally convincing crashes and the driving feel that’s hard to find elsewhere in the genre.
Beyond the physics, it’s a sandbox. Across 12 large open-world environments – tropical passes, deserts, city boulevards, highways – you decide what you actually do. Deep car customization lets you tune wheels, suspension, engines and pretty much every moving part before you take the result out for a test. The vehicle roster also goes well past race cars: haul trucks, wheel loaders, school buses and armored trucks are all on the list, and user-generated content stretches the playtime into the tens of hours.
What it means for PS5 owners
Forza Horizon 6 still doesn’t have a release date, so PlayStation 5 owners hunting for a big open-world driving game have a gap in the calendar – and BeamNG.drive is stepping straight into it. The open question is performance. The game is famously demanding, and how well the base PS5 handles it will only become clear after launch.
If you want to see what else is coming, our full gaming news feed tracks new releases and updates, and we’ve also covered free Steam games plus the latest shake-up in Xbox studios if you’re keeping an eye on the wider industry.
FAQ
On October 19, on both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro. You can wishlist it on the PS Store now.
The exact price hasn’t been confirmed. If it matches the Steam version, it should land around $25.
No. The console launch is not the 1.0 release. The game has been in early access since 2015 and is still in active development, though the PS5 version ships alongside its biggest update to date.
The new update adds a split-screen mode for local multiplayer, which is one of the headline features of the console release.
BeamNG has teased that the 0.40 update should arrive on PC around the same time the game launches on PlayStation 5.