How Does PS5 Free Upgrade Work? (Is It Really Free)

Sony recently announced that players will now have the option to upgrade their PS4 disc or digital games to the PS5 digital version and players are very happy about it. But how does the PS5 free upgrade system really work? Let’s find out!

The new upgrade system called PS5 Upgrade Paths allows users to download a PS5 version of the game if they own its PS4 version copy. Players can either download it for no additional costs or get a copy at limited availability or they require a purchase of the PS5 game version.

Keep reading, to know how do PS5 game upgrades work will PS4 games be upscaled on the PS5 and what PS4 games are upgraded to PS5. Read on to find out

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How Do PS5 Game Upgrades Work?

For PS4 disc Games:

On your PS5, sign into your PSN account.
Insert the PS4 game disc.
Navigate to the game hub for the PS4 game.
Select and review the upgrade offer.
Click on Download if the upgrade is free.

In order to upgrade a PS4 disc game to PS5 digital for free, you will need a PS5 with disc drive as PS4 disc games cannot work with PS5 Digital. However, you won’t be needing a PS5 with disc drive for PS4 digital games.

Note: If there is an option of “purchase with the discount price”, it means that you will have to purchase the upgraded game content.

Once you have downloaded or purchased the content, you can insert the PS4 game disc to play the upgraded PS5 digital game. Each time you want to play the game, you will need to insert the PS4 game disc.

Disclaimer: Your PS4 disc and the PSN account need to be from the same country in order to upgrade the game.

How To Upgrade PS4 Digital Games To PS5

On your PS5, sign in to your PSN account.
Search for the PS5 game in the PlayStation Store and navigate to the game hub for the PS5 game.
Select and review the upgrade offer.
Click on Download if the upgrade is free.

Note: If there is an option of “purchase with the discount price”, it means that you will have to purchase the upgraded game content.

After the download is finished, you can go ahead and play your PS5 game on the PS5 console. Keep reading to find out whether all the PS4 games will be upgraded to PS5 and which PS4 games are currently available to upgrade to PS5.

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Will PS4 Games Be Upscaled On PS5?

PS4 games will only be upscaled on PS5 if they are programmed by their developers to do so. This means that if a game has built-in high-resolution settings that can be supported on the new PS5, then the game will be upscaled. If not, it will look exactly the same on PS5.

Ever since Sony announced that the new PS5 will be backward compatible with PS4 and PS VR titles, players have been wondering if the PS4 games will be upscaled on PS5. Well, it depends.

All the games are programmed to comply to meet the requirements and resolutions of a particular console in mind. Because why waste all that money to program a next-level game when your console cannot even support it?

However, some games do have higher resolutions which are supported by PS5. And some developers also add additional updates and support for the newer consoles. These games can be played on PS5 with better results. So it depends on each game.

Currently, the PS5 offers 3 different compatibility modes used for PS4 games.

PS5 Compatibility Modes

PS4 Legacy Mode: If your PS4 has not been optimized by the developer for PS4 Pro, it will run in PS4 Legacy Mode. This basically means that your console’s CPU and GPU will temporarily lower the performance to comply with the original PS4 hardware that it was made for. So your experience will not change.

But, you will still benefit from the dramatically improved CPU and GPU PS4 games will load almost instantly.

PS4 Pro Legacy Mode: If your PS4 game has been optimized by the developer for PS4 Pro, it will run in PS4 Pro Legacy Mode, meaning that you can play it with higher resolution, frame rate and visual upgrades.

PS5 Native Mode: If your PS4 game has been optimized and upgraded by the developer to support PS5, you will be able to enjoy all new features including a much higher frame rate, native 4K resolution, improved audio, ray-tracing and other newer features.

For example, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege developed by Ubisoft is confirmed to be upgraded for PS5.

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What PS4 Games Are Upgraded To PS5?

Uptil now, a total of 59 games are confirmed to get free updates to PS5 including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.