For every first-party game that comes out after Horizon Forbidden West, Sony will ask for money and there will be no free PS5 upgrades from PS4.
Sony Confirms No free PS5 Upgrades after Horizon Forbidden West
A PS5 upgrade to Horizon Forbidden West was originally intended only for owners of the Collector’s Edition and the even more expensive Regalla Edition at no additional cost.
If you have bought the standard version or even the special edition for PS4, you would probably have been asked to check out again at a later date in order to be able to upgrade to the PS5 version or might not have been able to upgrade at all.
After Sony was informed by the community that Playstation boss Jim Ryan himself had promised a free PS5 upgrade for Horizon Forbidden West, the company rowed back. The PS5 version of the game is now available at no additional cost to anyone who owns Forbidden West on the PS4 (via the Playstation blog). But that’s all over afterward.
Specifically, Jim Ryan announces in the blog entry that Sony will charge $10 dollars for every PS5 upgrade of a first-party title after the release of Horizon Forbidden West. It will probably be 10 EUR for the European states. Here is the statement from the Playstation boss:
“I also want to confirm today that moving forward, PlayStation first-party exclusive cross-gen titles (newly releasing on PS4 & PS5)–both digital and physical*–will offer a $10 USD digital upgrade option from PS4 to PS5. This will apply to the next God of War and Gran Turismo 7, and any other exclusive cross-gen PS4 & PS5 title published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.”
PS5 titles generally cost $10 more, but they also deliver better resolution, textures and frame rate. The generally rising costs for game production can also contribute to the higher prices.
Of course, Sony also benefits from the fact that they still bring Horizon Forbidden West and other titles for the PS4. At least the PS5 update for Horizon Zero Dawn was also still free.
What do you think of Sony’s upgrade policy?
