PlayStation: No More Free PS5 Upgrades From PS4 for First-Party Games

09/05/2021 02:27 pm EDT

In case you happened to miss it, PlayStation recently announced that not all of the various versions of the upcoming video game sequel Horizon Forbidden West would include a free PS4-to-PS5 upgrade path. That is, before it even more recently reversed course and announced that anyone that purchases Horizon Forbidden West for the PlayStation 4 would be able to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free. And while that might be good news, overall, for fans of Horizon Forbidden West, the announcement also came with a big caveat that, going forward, first-party exclusive cross-gen titles -- like Horizon Forbidden West is -- will not offer this same upgrade for free. It will, instead, be a paid upgrade for both physical and digital versions of these video games.

"Last year we made a commitment to deliver free upgrades for our cross-gen launch titles, which included Horizon Forbidden West," said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. "While the pandemic's profound impact pushed Forbidden West out of the launch window we initially envisioned, we will stand by our offer: Players who purchase Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free."

"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," Ryan continued. "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."

As for Horizon Forbidden West, the upcoming title is set to release for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 18, 2022. Neither the upcoming God of War, seemingly titled God of War: Ragnarok, nor Gran Turismo 7 have a definitive release date as of yet. You can check out all of our previous coverage of PlayStation in general right here.

What do you think about the confirmation that upgrades from PS4 to PS5 will be a paid cost going forward for first-party PlayStation titles? Are you still looking forward to the release of titles like the next God of War and Gran Turismo 7 regardless of that? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

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