BeamNG.drive Arrives on PS5 This Year With 2kHz Soft-Body Physics

BeamNG, the studio behind BeamNG.drive, plans to release the game on PlayStation 5 this year. The PS5 version reproduces the title’s soft-body physics engine, which updates at 2,000 times per second, and models crash damage at the component level.

The developer describes each vehicle as a network of nodes and beams that can flex, deform or break under load. The physics engine recalculates vehicle behavior at 2kHz, allowing collisions and handling responses to emerge from the simulated structure rather than from pre-set animations.

The console build includes roughly 1,000 vehicle configurations, covering supercars, sports and muscle cars, SUVs, minivans, buses and off-road rigs. Many models offer extensive modification options, including engine swaps, drivetrain layout changes, suspension tuning, tire pressure adjustment, sway bars, ride height, locking differentials and advanced shock setups. Each part-level change affects vehicle performance and handling in real time.

BeamNG is bringing a range of tools and props to the PS5 release, including trailers, traffic items, large interactive objects such as spinners and heavy weights, and a fleet of construction machinery. Damage is functional in the simulation: failures at the part level alter how a vehicle behaves on the road.

The PS5 version ships with a dozen open-world maps that include coastal, mountain, desert, industrial and suburban environments. Game modes include races, time trials, police chases and a Freeroam option that can run with simulated traffic or an empty world.

Porting the game to PlayStation 5 required optimization of performance, controls, the user interface and other systems to run on the console’s architecture. The studio described the work as a complex undertaking intended to preserve the core physics while adapting the experience for console players.

“When console? is a question we’ve been asked, in some form or another, for the better part of a decade and I’m excited to be able to say we’re bringing our world of cars and chaos to PlayStation 5,” the studio wrote.

BeamNG.drive began as a technical demo on PC and developed into a community-driven simulator with extensive modding support. The PS5 release is the title’s first official console launch, bringing its soft-body crash model and component-level damage system to a wider audience.