13 years after DC Universe Online first launched on PC and PlayStation 3, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game is still going strong. While we don't have sales numbers right now, the game remains popular enough to at least warrant the release of a native PlayStation 5 version, while developer Dimensional Ink has outlined robust plans for future updates.
Although DC Universe Online has been playable on the PlayStation 5, it was the PS4 version of the game which ran via the console's backwards compatibility feature. The native client for PS5 allows for "more powerful performance improvements and PS5 native features."
According to Dimensional Ink, the PS5 version of DCUO "can better take advantage of the system's hardware for stronger performance, smoother framerates, faster load times, and natively runs at 4k."
An Xbox Series X|S version is "on the way."
In addition to this week's launch of the PS5 client, Dimensional Ink's new lead producer, Kenn "Kendricke" White, also outlined two planned content updates for this year. Episode 47: Brainiac Returns! is set to launch in May, with the untitled Episode 48 coming in September.
Here's the official blurb for Episode 47: Brainiac Returns!:
Brainiac has returned! Seeking to learn from his previous defeats, he's launching an all-out assault on the Earth's ultimate symbols of hope and resistance, the Hall of Justice and the Hall of Doom. With the world hanging in the balance, the Justice League and Lex Luthor's Secret Society are forced to unite their powers and resources to thwart Brainiac's ingeniously malevolent plan.
Coming in April is the next base, the Sunstone Fortress. This new base and base layout is inspired by Superman's Fortress of Solitude and is expected to launch this April in celebration of the Man of Steel's anniversary.
White also confirmed that Episode 48 will launch sooner than expected. The update is in pre-production with an estimated set for September. Unfortunately, White could not go into the details of this update as it's still a work in progress, although he did tease that their goal "is to make it as great as and different from any episode that has come before."
And if all goes well, Episode 49 will launch in the first quarter of 2025.
DC Universe Online is a free-to-play MMO set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game was originally released in 2011 -- in the heyday for MMORPGs -- for PC and PlayStation 3. It came to PS4 in November 2013, Xbox One in 2016, and Nintendo Switch in August 2019. Very few MMOs have had the ability to stand the test of time like DC Universe Online.