Good news for those lucky enough to have a PS5 and own "God of War": the PS5 version is getting a free update today, February 2, that will allow the game to be played in 4K with smooth graphics at 60 frames per second

Developer Santa Monica Studio explains that the update will change the game's default graphics settings to sync the Checkerboard's 4K resolution and frame rate to 60fps This is a direct upgrade to the existing default, which also includes 4K for the checkerboard but has a frame limit of only 30 fps

The original settings can be restored by selecting "Original Performance Experience"

A new 4K/60fps mode named "Enhanced Performance Experience" also appears to be a step up from the "Favor Performance" setting It appears to be a step up directly from the "Favor Performance" setting It offers up to 60 fps, but at a lower resolution

For those who are not familiar with Checkerboard 4K, it uses a technique called checkerboard rendering, whereby the game actually runs at a lower resolution (2160p in the case of God of War) The image is rendered in a checkerboard pattern, with a filter extrapolating (basically guessing) what should be drawn between each square This allows for less detail to be rendered while still displaying enough detail to be considered 4K In fact, running "God of War" in the Enhanced Performance Experience mode requires a 4K TV

Given that "God of War" was a gorgeous graphical showcase on PS4, it is very tough to run it in native 4K And even with the PS5's 10 teraflops of graphics power, it doesn't seem possible to run "God of War" at full 4K 60fps

We don't have an exact time for when the patch will be available, but it will be available later today

"God of War" is not the only game receiving next-gen performance upgrades today; "Control: Ultimate Edition" is also available on next-gen consoles, adding two new performance modes for the PS5 and Xbox Series X

"God of War" is also available on next-gen consoles, with two new performance modes

The "Performance Mode" targets 60 fps, but runs at an upscaled 4K (natively rendered at 1440p) by lowering some of the quality settings The "graphics mode" is the opposite, targeting 30 fps at upscaled 4K using transparency and reflection ray tracing

The Xbox Series S version also has its own reduced "Performance Mode," which also targets 60 fps, but with a rendered resolution of 900p and unscaled 1080p

There is no equivalent of the graphics mode on the cheaper Microsoft consoles, but given that the previous generation console version of "Control" was plagued with slowdown issues, the promise of 4K/60fps on the new console is an attractive one

The PS5 version of Control: Ultimate Edition also supports the dual-sense controller's resistive trigger and haptic feedback features Remember, however, that regardless of which console you own, you will need to purchase the Ultimate Edition outright or download it through PlayStation Plus to get the new toy

Owners of the original "Control" will not be able to upgrade for free, nor will they be able to use the new performance mode or dual-sense feature if they are playing with the backwards compatibility feature

Not interested in playing "Control" or "God of War"? Then choose between the best PS5 games and the best Xbox Series X games