BeamNG.drive Arrives on PS5 With Split-Screen Driving and Advanced Physics

BeamNG.drive is now available on PlayStation 5, giving console players access to the detailed vehicle simulation and spectacular crash physics that have defined the game's long-running Early Access journey on PC. The PS5 edition launched on October 19, 2026, priced at $24.99 USD, and arrives at the same time as the game's v0.40 update on Steam.

The PlayStation debut is significant for a game built around real-time soft-body physics: rather than treating a car as a rigid object with a handful of visual damage states, BeamNG.drive simulates the components and structure of a vehicle in motion. Impacts can bend panels, compromise suspension, deform frames, damage mechanical parts, and dramatically change the way a vehicle handles. That technology has made the game a fixture for players who enjoy realistic driving, sandbox experimentation, elaborate stunts, and crashes that react to the situation rather than playing out through canned animations.

On PS5, that core experience is joined by local split-screen support, one of the headline additions associated with version 0.40. The new option creates a more social way to experience BeamNG.drive's varied environments and driving challenges, allowing players to share a screen rather than treating the simulator purely as a solo sandbox.

A PlayStation 5 Launch Built Around v0.40

The PS5 release coincides with BeamNG.drive v0.40 on Steam. Alongside local split-screen, the update introduces a new vehicle and a range of improvements. Specifics beyond those broad additions have not been detailed here, but the timing means PlayStation players are entering the game during an active update period rather than receiving a version detached from the current PC build.

For useful background on this topic, read Space Savory Sets October 26 Steam Launch for Its Darkly Comic Alien Diner.

BeamNG.drive remains an Early Access game on both Steam and PlayStation 5. Its development model has long focused on continued iteration, with vehicles, maps, modes, features, and technical refinements expanding over time. The PS5 version is likewise expected to receive ongoing updates, giving the console release a place in that continuing development process.

For newcomers, the version number may be less important than what it represents. BeamNG.drive is not structured around a single racing campaign or one narrowly defined discipline. It is a broad driving toolkit with simulation at its center. Players can test vehicles in free roam, set up challenges, take part in structured activities, experiment with damage, or simply explore the game's locations at their own pace. Version 0.40 adds another reason to put that flexibility to use with a second player nearby.

Split-Screen Opens Up the Sandbox

Local split-screen is especially fitting for a game with BeamNG.drive's open-ended design. The feature can support competitive time trials and pursuits, but its appeal is not limited to conventional racing. Two people can approach the same terrain in entirely different vehicles, attempt stunt setups, see how long their cars can survive difficult routes, or create impromptu challenges around the game's simulation systems.

For another perspective on this story, read BeamNG.drive Reaches PS5 With Split-Screen and v0.40 Features.

The game includes scenarios ranging from deliveries to police pursuits and time trials, which gives split-screen players several possible ways to turn the sandbox into an immediate contest. A delivery vehicle can be pushed through a difficult route while another player creates complications. A pursuit can become an unscripted game of evasion through city streets or rough terrain. Time trials can be as serious or chaotic as the players decide.

Because vehicle condition matters, the results are often more interesting than simply determining who reaches a checkpoint first. A driver may technically hold the lead but lose steering after a collision, suffer engine damage after landing badly, or discover that a vehicle setup intended for speed is poorly suited to the terrain. That chain reaction between driving decisions, terrain, impacts, and mechanical consequences is at the heart of BeamNG.drive's identity.

What BeamNG.drive Offers on PS5

The PlayStation 5 version includes the major pillars of the BeamNG.drive experience. Players have access to dozens of customizable vehicles and 12 open-world environments, offering a mix of spaces intended for exploring, racing, off-road driving, testing, and destructive experimentation. The varied locations are an important part of what makes the game more than a technical vehicle demo. Different roads, surfaces, elevations, and layouts ask different things of a car and its driver.

Customization gives players room to tailor vehicles for a specific goal or simply build something unusual. A practical setup for a delivery task will not necessarily resemble a car prepared for a high-speed time trial, a rough trail, or a stunt course. Altering a vehicle can be rewarding, but it also carries consequences: the simulation is designed to expose weak points when a machine is pushed beyond its limits.

Free-roam sandbox play is the clearest expression of this approach. There is no need to follow a fixed event list when players would rather test a suspension over bumps, attempt a difficult jump, run an informal crash experiment, or drive across an environment with no objective beyond seeing what happens. BeamNG.drive's systems are intended to make those unscripted moments feel reactive and physical.

Those looking for clearer direction can turn to the game's Career Mode, which provides progression, or select from its scenario content. Deliveries emphasize control and preserving a vehicle and its cargo. Pursuits add pressure and unpredictable collisions. Time trials focus more directly on pace and precision. Together, these modes provide structure without removing the experimentation that makes the wider game distinctive.

Rendering Features for PS5 and PS5 Pro

BeamNG.drive's PS5 edition includes different upscaling technologies depending on the console hardware. The standard PlayStation 5 version supports AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3, while the PlayStation 5 Pro version supports PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, commonly known as PSSR.

These features are notable because BeamNG.drive has demanding simulation goals in addition to its visual rendering. Vehicle deformation and complex driving situations are a major part of the experience, and the game's console launch has been designed with modern reconstruction and upscaling technologies in mind. No specific performance modes, resolution targets, or frame-rate claims have been announced here, so players should avoid assuming a particular configuration until they can review the options available in the PS5 release.

Still, support for FSR 3 on the base console and PSSR on PS5 Pro signals an effort to make use of the platform family's available rendering features. For a simulation where dense environments, multiple vehicles, damage, and split-screen can all shape the workload, that technical consideration matters.

Mods Are Not Included at Launch

One important distinction between the PC and PlayStation versions concerns mod support. Mods will not be available on PlayStation at launch, and mod authoring tools are not currently planned for PlayStation. The limitation means the PS5 edition should be viewed as its own curated version of BeamNG.drive rather than a full mirror of the PC ecosystem.

On Steam, the game's Early Access history and mod-friendly community have been closely tied to its longevity. On PS5, players will instead be relying on the vehicles, environments, modes, and updates included through the official console release. That does not diminish the range of the base game, which already includes dozens of vehicles, 12 environments, sandbox play, Career Mode, and several scenario types, but it is a meaningful point for players whose interest centers on community-created content.

The lack of PlayStation mod support is specifically a launch and planning detail, rather than an invitation to expect imminent tools later. With no authoring tools currently planned for the platform, prospective buyers should make their decision based on the official PS5 offering as it stands.

A New Audience for a Physics-Driven Driving Game

BeamNG.drive reaching PlayStation 5 brings a distinctive kind of driving game to a new audience. It can satisfy players who enjoy careful, realistic vehicle control, but it is also built for people who want to see a simulation react to absurd experiments, dramatic jumps, difficult terrain, and major impacts. Its appeal comes from the overlap between those interests: a careful drive and a catastrophic crash are both outcomes the game is equipped to model.

At $24.99 USD, the PS5 launch gives console players a direct entry point into that evolving Early Access experience. With v0.40 adding a new vehicle, improvements, and local split-screen, the release arrives with both the foundational sandbox and a fresh multiplayer-friendly feature to explore. The standard PS5 version supports FSR 3, PS5 Pro owners have PSSR support, and continued updates are planned as BeamNG.drive's development continues on Steam and PlayStation 5.