Sony Interactive Entertainment has now confirmed officially that PlayStation 4 owners will not get free upgrades (next-gen) for its first-party games. No doubt, the news is a big hit to all PS4 owners who were hoping to get a free next-gen upgrade on the PlayStation 5, especially when Microsoft is allowing free-of-cost upgrades from Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S.

Upcoming PlayStation exclusive releases won’t get the same treatment as Horizon Forbidden West

Sony announced that the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West will get a free next-gen upgrade (PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5), but unfortunately, the announcement came with a sting in the tail. Jim Ryan clarified the point that Horizon Forbidden West will get a free upgrade, but other upcoming releases will not get this same treatment heading into the future.

The confusing pre-order announcement from Sony last week for Horizon Forbidden West, which showed no option for the next-gen upgrade, created quite a lot of online controversy.

After a lot of outcries from gamers, Sony reversed the decision and offered the free upgrade for that particular game only. However, the digital and the standard version of the game does not include any free upgrades. In the future, players have to spend $9.99 to get an upgrade for PlayStation 5 version.

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In the official blog post, Jim Ryan (Head of Sony) stated, “I also want to confirm today that 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.” He went on to add, “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.”

The loophole

Here’s a hot tip: Players can smartly save some bucks by going with the less expensive PS4 version of the game instead of the more expensive one (PlayStation 5) since the PlayStation 4 version gives you a free next-gen upgrade. Players can easily take advantage of this loophole as Sony is not taking any action to stop this for now.

Horizon Forbidden West is all set to launch for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 22 February 2022.

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