It was widely believed that Sony Interactive Entertainment would have a unified programme for the upgrade of PlayStation 4 games to PlayStation 5. The console manufacturer reportedly has none, at least nothing like the commendable Smart Delivery solution that Microsoft has for Xbox Series X.
In a statement issued to GameSpark earlier today, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan confirmed that the decision to shift a player-base to the next generation will be left to the publishers. Hence, the publishers will be setting the rules and limitations, meaning that a cross-generation migration to PlayStation 5 will never be guaranteed to be free of cost. Sony though will be offering “flexible support” to any publisher when and if needed.
Apparently the update program for PS4>PS5 software copies will be done at the publisher’s own discretion, but SIE stated that they will flexibly support these upgrades even in Japan as well
(note that it’s still unknown whether they deal with PS4>PS5DE)https://t.co/GIrsbjqg45 pic.twitter.com/UKDkMoPkgn— 黒凧 BlackKite (@bk2128) June 17, 2020
In contrast, Microsoft’s Smart Delivery allows players to purchase a single copy of a game to own the same game on any Xbox platform. Sony was assumed to announce a similar solution since several third-party games have already confirmed a free upgrade from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5. That includes Bungie’s Destiny 2, Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5, and Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 21. There will be likely more but presumably none featuring first-party offerings since Sony has made it clear that PlayStation 5 exclusives will not be landing on PlayStation 4.
There will be two different PlayStation 5 models to choose from at launch where one of them, dubbed as the digital edition, will forego a disc drive. Those who go with the standard edition though, which features a 4K Blu-ray drive, will be able to run all of their old PlayStation 4 discs without any issues.
