Project Athia is an open-world game and looks "nearly identical" on PS5 and PC, Square Enix says

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It's still got a working title, but Project Athia is coming into some form

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Project Athia, the next-gen action project that developer Square Enix revealed at the June PS5 showcase, is an open-world game. 

As Gematsu reports, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda confirmed the game's genre in a recent interview with the Japanese outlet Weekly Tokyo Keizai Plus. "The game Project Athia, which we will release for PS5, is an open-world style game in which users can freely move around the game world," he says. 

The reveal trailer for Project Athia - which is still just a working title, mind you - was an unsurprisingly vague look at the game's world and protagonist, but it didn't tell us much about how it plays. We saw some epic platforming and fantasy combat, and Square Enix described it as a "thrilling story-led, action-packed adventure," but this is the first we've heard of it being an open-world game. 

Matsuda emphasizes the PS5 release here, but Project Athia is coming to both PS5 and PC. Matsuda touched on this later in the interview, praising the capabilities of the PS5. "PS5 dramatically improves video technology, such as with the implementation of light-reflecting Raytracing technology," he says. "Compared to what you see on PC, it is nearly identical. By utilizing these special traits, we’re able to create incredibly precise imagery." 

Beyond architectural similarities, PS5 and Xbox Series X are also much closer to modern gaming PCs in terms of sheer horsepower - much more so than any previous consoles, including the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. With M2 SSDs and beefier processors under the hood, both consoles should deliver distinctly PC-like experiences, so it's encouraging to hear Square Enix support that comparison, if only graphically. Project Athia is still a long way off, but it'll be interesting to see how its epic fantasy world looks on both platforms.  

Here are all the upcoming PS5 games that we know of.

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.