All games with free updates
Right now, some developers are trying to get gamers to upgrade to PlayStation 5 by offering free upgrades to the PlayStation 4 version of some of their games. As of this writing, all of the games currently available for a free upgrade are:
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla
- Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy
- Borderlands 3
- Call of Duty: Cold War Black Ops (Must own Cross-Gen Edition or Ultimate Edition on PS4 to get free upgrade to PS5 version. Standard Edition owners can pay extra $ 10 to upgrade to PS5 version)
- Control (Free upgrade for anyone who owns the Ultimate Edition on PS4. If you have the original 2019 version, you are not eligible for a free upgrade)
- cyberpunk 2077 (PS4 version includes free upgrade patch to PS5 version at launch, additional free PS5 upgrades promised via patch in 2021)
- Death by the light of day
- Destiny 2
- DiRT 5
- DOOM Eternal
- Far Cry 6
- FIFA 21 (The PS4 version includes a free upgrade to the PS5 version at launch for one year)
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Hitman 3 (Free upgrade to PS5 version for PS4 digital owners only)
- Western forbidden horizon
- Immortals: Fenyx Rising
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Little Nightmares II
- Madden NFL 21 (Free upgrade to PS5 version of Madden NFL 21 to the point of Madden NFL 22)
- Maneater
- Marvel Avengers
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Free upgrade to PS5 version ONLY if the Ultimate edition is purchased)
- Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
- Mortal Kombat 11
- NBA 2K21 (Free upgrade to the PS5 version if you purchase the Mamba Forever edition of the game on PS4)
- Outriders
- Planet Coaster: Console Edition
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Republic of the Horsemen
- Sackboy: a great adventure
- Subnautica / Subnautica: sub zero (Free update to the PS5 version in 2021 for owners of the PS4 version)
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Watch Dogs Légion
- WRC 9
- Yakuza: like a dragon
Console versions
It would seem that the only real difference between the PlayStation 5 and its digital edition is the presence of an optical drive, which means that you cannot play any type of physical media on the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. If you don't have too many physical copies of games and have a large SSD drive to load your digital games onto, digital editing may be right for you; The same goes for those who would use the PlayStation 5 primarily as a streaming box.
Otherwise, in general, you'll want to get the PlayStation 5. There's also a price difference between the two, so be aware of that when deciding between the systems.
How PS4 games work on the PS5
Probably one of the biggest questions raised when Sony started talking about backward compatibility with PlayStation 4 games is exactly how it would work with the PlayStation 4 beyond just being playable. At the time of writing, almost all of the games available on the PlayStation 4 will be compatible with the PlayStation 5 and perform as intended, whether through digital or physical versions. Much like games on the PS4 Pro, PlayStation 4 games that have not been optimized for the PS4 may engage in a “boost mode” where overall performance and appearance are enhanced. Games optimized for use with the PS4 Pro will appear as they would on the PS4 Pro. It's also worth noting that Boost Mode can be turned off, just like old iterations of it on older consoles, in case it causes issues with the games in question.
Some developers are updating their games to have specific optimizations for use with the PlayStation 5, meaning that there will be four ways to experience PlayStation 4 games on the PlayStation 5: there will be the base experience, l improved experience, the PS4 Pro. experience, and the experience optimized for PlayStation 5 for your PlayStation 4 games. The PlayStation 5 optimization, however, seems to occur in a very limited way.
Should you sell your PS4 console?
For now, if it weren't for the fact that everyone literally has the same idea, I would strongly suggest that you trade in for the PlayStation 5 as soon as you can, but I don't think the demand for a PlayStation is 4 will be enough to ease the saturation of people looking to sell their PlayStation 4 to make money to get a PlayStation 5. I mean, it really depends on what private selling looks like in your area - something with it. which I strongly suggest you exercise with caution - but with like eBay the market will usually be overflowing with used PlayStation 4 systems, no doubt.
If a local game store offers some sort of trade-in option, I suggest you take advantage of it as it would give you the best chance of making the process smooth and uncomplicated. It would seem that the console is all you really need to worry about, as most peripherals and USB playback accessories are also compatible with the PlayStation 5.
Transfer your saves and games from PS4 to PS5
As I said earlier, your physical copies of your PS4 games will be ready to play from the moment you turn on your PlayStation 5. Transferring your digital copies and game saves can be done either via a digital save in the cloud, either via a physical media backup, such as a USB key or an external SSD. If you've ever recorded your games and saved to an external drive, you're supposed to be able to move them directly to the PlayStation 5 and it would work pretty much the same.
It looks like Sony has made a very good case for getting gamers to switch to their new PlayStation 5 system, but hasn't hinted that Sony will forget about the PlayStation 4 once the launch period has passed. It would seem that no matter how you decide to go ahead, there are all kinds of great options out there for you if you want to buy a PlayStation 5.
