'Horizon Forbidden West' PS4 buyers will get a free PS5 upgrade after all

 

Sony won't make you pay to upgrade Horizon Forbidden West after all. The company's Interactive Entertainment chief Jim Ryan announced that Forbidden West PS4 players will get to upgrade to the PS5 version for free, as Sony promised last September. The tech giant "missed the mark" and will stand by its original pledge, Ryan said.

The change of heart comes after Sony and Guerilla told customers they'd be limited to the version of the game they bought. If you started on PS4, in other words, you'd have to buy another copy to take advantage of PS5 features.

Don't expect a similar concession for other PS4-to-PS5 upgrades. Ryan made clear that all first-party cross-generation exclusives "moving forward" would include a $10 upgrade option for the PS5 edition. If you pick up the next God of War for your PS4, you'll still have to pay for the PS5 release — you just won't have to pay nearly as much.

This pricing won't affect third-party studios, some of which have offered free PS5 updates (such as for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order). However, it does set expectations. Sony clearly wants gamers to cover the costs of PS5 updates, and releases like Forbidden West are the exceptions to that rule.