Narrative road racer Heading Out coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S

Following its initial PC release last May, Heading Out, a stylish, narrative-focused driving game, is making its way onto PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

A release window has yet to be confirmed, with Crunching Koalas developing and publishing the console port. The original PC version was developed by Poland’s Serious Sim and published by Saber Interactive. More details about the console launch are promised “soon,” so it hopefully won’t be long until we find out the release date.

Inspired by cult-classic 1970s road movies like Vanishing Point and Thelma and Louise, Heading Out is a narrative-driven driving game that combines street races and police chases with roguelike elements, a branching story and resource management.

Playing as a fugitive on the run, you must manage your fuel and money between the game’s driving sequences as you tear across the US. As you encounter shady characters on your journey, every decision you make affects the branching storyline.

Heading Out’s stylised visuals also stand out. During gameplay, the art style is primarily black and white, combined with Sin City-esque splashes of colour. Outside of gameplay, the story is told in comic strip-style cut scenes.

There are no licensed cars, but the vehicles are inspired by movie icons, including Kowalski’s white Dodge Challenger R/T muscle car from Vanishing Point.  In another nod to the 1971 cult-classic road movie, which focuses on delivery driver Kowalski transporting a Dodge Challenger from Colorado to California in under 15 hours, an in-game radio DJ reacts to your actions.

In a roadmap shared on social media, Crunching Koalas is teasing another announcement at the end of June ahead of “the next big thing” in July. This could hint at a release window for the console versions, or possibly an expansion or sequel.

In addition to the console announcement, the Steam version has received a surprise update over one year after its original release, improving performance on Steam Deck among other enhancements. More details can be found in the patch notes below.

Heading Out Steam update patch notes

• Optimised interface scaling for a more seamless experience on Steam Deck
• Performance enhancements and overall quality-of-life improvements
• Stability improvements for in-game video playback
• Fixed black screen issues that were causing softlocks
• New setting: Option to disable controller vibration
• Upgraded game engine to support future updates and improvements

Are you looking forward to hitting the open road in Heading Out on consoles? Let us know in the comments below.