Sony Confirms Spider-Man on PS4 Won't Receive Free PS5 Upgrade

Sony Confirms Spider-Man on PS4 Won't Receive Free PS5 Upgrade

17
Matt Lorrigan

Sony has confirmed that players who own Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4 won't get a free upgrade to the remastered version on PS5.

Since the announcement that  Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition will also include a copy of Marvel's Spider-Man: Remastered on PS5, there has been some confusion over all the different versions. Sony has attempted to clear this up in a statement to Kotaku. Here's how it boils down in Sony's words - we've put the game titles in bold to try and make it a little easier to read.

"Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered is an enhanced version of Marvel’s Spider-Man, and is included as part of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition for the PlayStation 5. In addition, players who purchase Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PlayStation 4 can upgrade at no additional cost to the PS5 version of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and can take advantage of a paid-upgrade to download Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered."

"There are no plans currently to offer Marvel’s-Spider-Man: Remastered as a standalone. Players with a copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 can purchase Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition to experience Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered on PS5. Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 also will be backwards compatible on PS5."

It isn't the clearest explanation, but essentially, if you own Spider-Man on PS4, you get nothing extra. If you buy Miles Morales for PS4, you can upgrade for free to Miles Morales on PS5, but you won't get Spider-Man: Remastered, or you can choose a paid upgrade to get the Ultimate Edition, which includes the PS5 version of both games. Finally, you can just buy the Mile Morales Ultimate Edition on PS5 and get everything. Bada bing bada boom.

While a lot of games are offering free and simple upgrades from PS4 to PS5, Spider-Man is definitely one of the more complicated scenarios, as Sony wants to give players more incentive to buy the $70 version at the PS5 launch. We also recently found out that Spider-Man PS4 save files wouldn't work with the PS5 version. It's certainly become a bit of a tangled web.

Comments
17
  • Expect this type of thing to carry over to every 1st party exclusive (or ex-exclusive) if they bother remastering others.
  • Not too fessed up about this... I am 100% sure that the Ultimate Edition will be offered on a PSN sale (Easter, Summer, Holiday etc) for a big discount. I'll wait for that since I'm not getting the PS5 on launch day as what I have been doing in the past - buy the next gen console when there are many games available to play...
  • Slightly off topic, but could someone please answer me a question? I have a few games that I have bought as downloads on my PS4, for example Spiderman. I understand that games from the PS4 will be playable on the PS5, does that include downloads? I don't just mean Spiderman, but any downloaded game. I totally get that if you put a PS4 disc in the PS5 it should play, but what happens with downloads? Do you download your PS4 library on to the PS5, or are you expected to re-purchase these games if you want to play them on the PS5?
  • @3 Digital PS4 games will be playable on PS5. We're not sure exactly how it works yet, but it should be as simple as heading to your library or PS store and downloading the PS4 game to your PS5, similar to how Xbox One handles 360 and OG Xbox games.
  • @3 they haven't been super clear about how a lot of things will work specifically, but I assume the 99% backwards compatibility includes digital ps4 games. You are just downloading and playing the ps4 version of a game on a ps5. You shouldn't need to repurchase anything to play the older version.
  • One thing for sure is that if you like Spider-Man, Playstation is the console for you. The PS5 is not even out and I have remaster fatigue. I start reading these rules and my eyes just glaze over.
  • @3 This is from the official playstation 5 website. "Upgrade PS4 games to digital PS5 gamesThe PS5 console gives game publishers the ability to let players upgrade their disc and digital PS4 games to digital PS5 games."
  • @3 I think it just lets you download PS4 games on PS5. From what I remember they said at the start of the PS4 that the architecture was the easiest that generation.
  • Thank you, all those that responded. By the sounds of it, I should be okay.
  • I'd like to know about how ganesharing will or won't work. I wanna have 2 PS5s between me and my kid but I don't really wanna have PS+ for 2 consoles in the same home, as well as having to buy games 2x.anyone with info on that?
  • Why would anybody think just because they own a 2 year old game on PS4 they should get it free on the PS5? I thought this free upgrade were for the popular games released just prior to the PS5 release like FIFA, Call Of Duty, Dirt 5 ect: ect: The common theme with them all is that they come out late september october/early november. I wouldnt even expect those free as you all know the PS5 versions just around the corner you could have waited for that :) People expect to much these days.
  • Guess I'm keeping my preorder of the ultimate edition for PS5 and getting the PS4 version of Miles Morales since I'm not sure when I'll be able to get a PS5. Would've been nice if they would've made it so the ultimate edition came with the PS4 version of Miles Morales too, but obviously that wasn't something they ever considered.
  • @ #11 ... They expect that because the PS5 -- intentionally or not -- is really being billed as a remaster machine to play PS4 games with greater graphical fidelity, vs. playing games designed to take advantage of the PS5's upgraded capabilities. I'm not saying that is a reasonable expectation from fans. But I think it is a natural response to a weak launch lineup and the state of remaster culture. The only thing that gets me excited in the PS5 launch lineup is Demons Souls, for nostalgia. But jeesh it makes no sense to get a new system for a game I've played through a dozen or more times in a new iteration that is sure to launch with problems and require months of patching. If I get a PS5 -- which is not a sure thing given the lack of availability and this week's events -- it is going to be when there is a bench of games actually developed specifically for the PS5 - not PS4 games ported to the PS5 with "upgrades".
  • @11: Because unlike the generation switches before, PS4 and PS5 are basically the same with better hardware. On a PC you'd receive a free patch to unlock ne graphical capabilities. Why should you pay for the whole game again just to receive a (rather marginal) graphical update. We didn't need to pay to upgrade games to their PS4 Pro version neither.
  • @ #11 ... I am well aware of this. Like I said, I see little point spending $499 for "better graphics" until the improvements in graphics and experience is compelling versus cosmetic, and/or the games I want are for PS5 only. It makes very little sense for consoles to ape PC. Blurring the line between generations just encourages people to postpone consumption. You are making your new console compete with your old, especially when versions of games come out for both. Especially when they don't produce enough units for launch. And when a competitor makes an acquisition that shakes up the industry that makes people want to "wait and see" what happens with ESVI, Starfield, etc.
  • It's not like this is a new game it's a 2 year old game why would you think they would give you another version of it for free lol, that's crazy.
  • What do we need all these purchasable upgrades for if the PS5 is supposed to be backwards compatible with most PS4 games anyways?
  • You need to register before being able to post comments

Game navigation