Days Gone’s remaster tech upgrades are coming to PC for free — but content will cost you

Sony is doing something unexpectedly nice for Days Gone PC players: they’re giving away the remastered version’s tech upgrades completely free via an April 25 patch. Yep, all the visual bells and whistles from the PS5 version are rolling out to PC — no charge. But before you get too excited, there’s a catch: the actual new content from the remaster is DLC-only.

So you’ll look better while riding through Oregon, but you won’t be trying the new Horde Mode unless you pay up.

“Thankfully, though, we’ll get the new technical features for free. So, that’s at least something.”

If you’re new here, Days Gone was one of the first PlayStation exclusives to get the PC port treatment back in 2021, joining the slow but steady exodus that started with Horizon Zero Dawn and eventually grew to include God of War, Spider-Man, and more. For a while, it looked like Days Gone was going to be the oddball — loved by fans, ignored by critics, and stuck without a sequel. But now with Days Gone Remastered launching on PS5 and these updates coming to PC, Sony’s giving the game a proper second wind.

So what’s in this PC update exactly?

• DualSense haptics are finally supported, meaning your controller will rumble differently when you're gunning, riding, or getting mauled by a Freaker.
• Accessibility options have been expanded, though Sony hasn’t detailed exactly which ones.
• Nighttime lighting has been dramatically reworked — expect much darker nights, which honestly fits the tone way better than the old gray fog aesthetic.
• Lighting upgrades include improved screen space, indirect lighting,g and ambient occlusion.
• Shadowmaps now have doubled resolution on the “Highest” setting.
• Sky & atmospheric simulation uses ozone and spectral light modeling, giving you more accurate lighting and better color tone for skyboxes and sunlight.

Basically, your apocalypse is about to look very pretty — in a ruined and depressing kind of way.

“The devs have implemented a new Atmospheric/Sky simulation using ozone and spectral light simulation.”

But let’s talk about what you won’t get. The content side of Days Gone Remastered — stuff like Horde Mode, Permadeath Mode, and Speedrun Mode — is locked behind the “Broken Road” DLC. It’s not surprising, but it’s worth clarifying. You’ll need to buy the DLC to access those features, even on PC. No pricing info yet, but it’s Sony, so don’t expect it to be dirt cheap.

On the upside, the patch doesn’t bump up the game’s official PC requirements — at least not yet. But if you’re planning to max out all these new effects, your mid-range 2020 rig might start sweating. Time to revisit those settings if you’ve been coasting on “High” since launch.

This move feels like Sony testing the waters a bit. Days Gone has always had a weird place in the PlayStation lineup — not quite AAA, but not indie either. It had a rocky launch, got better with patches, found love with fans, and then kinda got left in the cold when Sony passed on greenlighting a sequel. But now? A remaster, new DLC, and a PC update suggest they haven’t given up on the IP entirely. Maybe they’re watching to see how the remaster performs before making any sequel decisions.

It also fits into a bigger trend we’re seeing: PlayStation games getting real post-launch support on PC. Spider-Man Remastered and Horizon Forbidden West both got solid PC ports. Ghost of Tsushima is coming next. Sony’s finally treating the platform like it matters — even if they’re still cautious about day-one parity.

So yeah, if you own Days Gone on PC, April 25’s update is basically a free remaster in terms of visuals. It might not bring new missions or story beats, but the world’s going to look better, feel better with a DualSense, and feel just a little more alive. And if you’re really itching for more Freaker-slaying chaos, well, that’s what the DLC’s for.

Until then, maybe it’s time to fire the game back up, tweak your bike build, and ride out into those darker nights.