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PS Now's New Games (Borderlands 3 and Avengers) Are PS4 Only, No PS5 Upgrade Path

ps-now-playstation-now-ps5-ps4-upgrade-1.original.jpg



Sony’s big PlayStation Now update this week is one of the best in a long time, with Marvel’s Avengers and Borderlands 3 both part of the lineup, showcasing the company’s commitment to the subscription service. However, it’s also a demonstration of how messy the manufacturer’s membership model is, as despite both titles featuring free PS4 to PS5 upgrades, you’ll only be able to play the last-gen version.

There was some confusion regarding this earlier in the week, so we decided to test it out. Using our PS Now subscription on PS5, we were able to stream the PS4 versions of each of the aforementioned titles. You can also download the games to your hard drive, but you can only download the last-gen versions; if you want to “upgrade” to the PS5 edition, then you’ll need to effectively pay for the game.

 

longdi

Banned
damn Sony PS feels so much more stingy as they continue to do well.

GP seems more thought out, disappointing with how sony is handling the transition from ps4/5.

its like either sony infra sucks or jimbo is uncertain where the cut offs he wants to be...:messenger_fearful:
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
damn Sony PS feels so much more stingy as they continue to so well. GP seems do well thought out

very disappointing with how sony is handling of the transition from ps4/5.

its like either sony infra sucks or jimbo is uncertain where should the cut off points be...:messenger_fearful:
That's not a Sony problem. That's often a "company or person" problem.

The more money made, you'd think that means more likelihood of loosening the purse strings. But for many, it means tightening the belt. lol
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
This is such a strange decision,
why wouldn't the devs want you to play the best possible version of there game?

No way is this going to entice people to buy the full "Next gen" game.
Some gamers on the purple board think it's due to Sony not having any PS5 games on PS Now (unlike GP which has tons of games with Series S or X versions). So Sony's PS Now infrastructure isn't ready to do PS5 version yet for download or stream.

Who knows. At least that's a theory.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
Playstation PSPLUS is giving plenty of PS5 versions of games away. You guys don't think they can't put a PS5 file up for download on PSNOW or you talking about streaming? XCLOUD streaming is xbox one versions also.

The hate boner some of you have for all things Sony is through the roof. Or some of you guys part of the marketing going on?

Anyone else think it's a coincidence Tech Radar, Tom's guide, Tom's hardware, Windows Central, Push Square, and more all run the same negative PR articles like me? Push Square is a funny one because they sound like a PS publication but run the same shit.

Turns out they are all owned by the same advertising company called FUTURE and they all run the same articles (ads). So someone's paying A LOT of money for these, whoever that could be.

Going to get some sleep now.
 

reksveks

Member
Playstation PSPLUS is giving plenty of PS5 versions of games away. You guys don't think they can't put a PS5 file up for download on PSNOW or you talking about streaming? XCLOUD streaming is xbox one versions also.

The hate boner some of you have for all things Sony is through the roof. Or some of you guys part of the marketing going on?

Anyone else think it's a coincidence Tech Radar, Tom's guide, Tom's hardware, Windows Central, Push Square, and more all run the same negative PR articles like me? Push Square is a funny one because they sound like a PS publication but run the same shit.

Turns out they are all owned by the same advertising company called FUTURE and they all run the same articles (ads). So someone's paying A LOT of money for these, whoever that could be.

Going to get some sleep now.
LOL, future plc ain't an advertising company it's a publisher. Unless you think that a 'news' publication is the same as an advertising company, then I can't help you there.

And yes, we know the current technical limitations of the xcloud servers so there is less speculations on that topic.

I assume it cause they don't want to deal with the extra asterisks of

Via ps now, you can download the ps5 version and use the ps5 save file but then if you want to stream it on another device then you are playing the playing the ps4 version and it's save file. I am still unsure how switching back and forth on avengers works.
 
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12Dannu123

Member
Playstation PSPLUS is giving plenty of PS5 versions of games away. You guys don't think they can't put a PS5 file up for download on PSNOW or you talking about streaming? XCLOUD streaming is xbox one versions also.

The hate boner some of you have for all things Sony is through the roof. Or some of you guys part of the marketing going on?

Anyone else think it's a coincidence Tech Radar, Tom's guide, Tom's hardware, Windows Central, Push Square, and more all run the same negative PR articles like me? Push Square is a funny one because they sound like a PS publication but run the same shit.

Turns out they are all owned by the same advertising company called FUTURE and they all run the same articles (ads). So someone's paying A LOT of money for these, whoever that could be.

Going to get some sleep now.

The problem is with that approach is that PSN doesn't support cross-save between PS4 and PS5. You can't save on PS4 when streaming and play the game on PS5 with the game downloaded and vice versa.

This is exactly why Smart Delivery exists.
 
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Withnail

Member
Didn't see this one coming.

Oh wait, yes I did.


I'm predicting some drama tomorrow when it's discovered that PS Now covers PS4 but not PS5, and the PS5 versions of Avengers and BL3 aren't available for download.

Sony's crappy cross-gen system means that if they allowed PS5 downloads there would be no way to transfer the save back and forth between download and streaming. Most people wouldn't want to do this anyway but I think Sony would see it as justification for only allowing the PS4 version to be downloaded.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Same as Control on GamePass that was Xbone only version, not a new thing. The only way for PS Now to be less money bleeding and more profitable is to make it download-only for PS4-5 games and streaming for PS3-1 for nostalgia freaks.
 
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This is so stupid penny pinching.

I can understand why streamed version is PS4- it's what they scalled infrastructure for but giving ps5 upgrade to small amount of ps5 owners with now subscription shouldn't cost them much.
 

Gatox

Banned
Playstation PSPLUS is giving plenty of PS5 versions of games away. You guys don't think they can't put a PS5 file up for download on PSNOW or you talking about streaming? XCLOUD streaming is xbox one versions also.

The hate boner some of you have for all things Sony is through the roof. Or some of you guys part of the marketing going on?

Anyone else think it's a coincidence Tech Radar, Tom's guide, Tom's hardware, Windows Central, Push Square, and more all run the same negative PR articles like me? Push Square is a funny one because they sound like a PS publication but run the same shit.

Turns out they are all owned by the same advertising company called FUTURE and they all run the same articles (ads). So someone's paying A LOT of money for these, whoever that could be.

Going to get some sleep now.
weirdalfoil_2322.jpg
 

Shmunter

Member
damn Sony PS feels so much more stingy as they continue to do well.

GP seems more thought out, disappointing with how sony is handling the transition from ps4/5.

its like either sony infra sucks or jimbo is uncertain where the cut offs he wants to be...:messenger_fearful:
Has Control on Gamepass received an upgrade path in the end? I recall that was the difference between ps+ which gave PS5 or PS4 version.
 
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Can't see PS5 versions being available for download until they can be streamed as well, probably because the PC app exists that can only stream the whole library. Sony likely don't want to segregate the service between the two like GamePass to make it cheaper & easier to maintain...

Or it could just be part of the deal with the publisher to not have the PS5 upgrade available when downloading to the console..

Or it could just be arrogant Sony...

Who knows...
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
They can't stream PS5 content without upgrading all their servers, and the issue with downloading is that the PS5 builds are essentially treated as their own SKU's so as to allow a person to have both PS4 and PS5 versions installed on the same system.

This point is pretty significant as PS4 versions can happily run from external storage on PS5, whereas native content needs to be on the internal SSD. This means that "upgrading" is potentially quite a messy process, especially for someone moving their collection from -or between- PS4 and PS5.
 

TVexperto

Member
They can't stream PS5 content without upgrading all their servers, and the issue with downloading is that the PS5 builds are essentially treated as their own SKU's so as to allow a person to have both PS4 and PS5 versions installed on the same system.

This point is pretty significant as PS4 versions can happily run from external storage on PS5, whereas native content needs to be on the internal SSD. This means that "upgrading" is potentially quite a messy process, especially for someone moving their collection from -or between- PS4 and PS5.
its not about streaming. you can download all ps4 games locally so why is sony actively blocking the free ps5 updates ?
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
its not about streaming. you can download all ps4 games locally so why is sony actively blocking the free ps5 updates ?

For the reasons I just explained. They'd have to manage multiple download target locations on PS5, and the PS5 upgraded versions are essentially different titles.

I wonder how many of you guys catastrophizing about this actually subscribe to PSNow and have a PS5. Not many I'd wager.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I keep forgetting about the downloadable games on PSNow. I always think of it as streaming.

I can't see PS Now surviving anymore without being download-only for PS4/5 and leave the streaming for PS3-1 at the moment until they figure out a proper emulator. If they make it download-based it'll be available worldwide, which will spike its numbers but not sure if Sony is really interested in that? Seems like they're more focused on PS Plus lately, which seems less expensive for them and more attractive for consumers as the subscription has spiked.

Let Xbox have its cloud-gaming crown then you'll get Switch portability, PS5 for premium gaming, Xbox GamePass for what view as best deal in gaming, although I'm pretty happy with PS Plus offering (PS Plus Collection has zero value to me as I've bought all of the ones I wanted there and the rest "bloodborne and others" don't care about them).

People speak of Netflix, which is extremely funny as video streaming is not as expensive as dedicating a console "barebone console" + all necessary, top end HW to achieve the least latency possible. My stance on GP is it's a very dangerous business model that could, more like "would", dismantle Xbox Division.
 
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I think this has more to do with the lack of cross saves than anything else. If you had the PS5 version available as download and played it and then wanted to stream you would not have the save data available and would have to start over, and vice versa of course. I honestly expect the first PS5 games that release on PSNow to be PS5 only games due to this fact.
 

sainraja

Member
For the reasons I just explained. They'd have to manage multiple download target locations on PS5, and the PS5 upgraded versions are essentially different titles.

I wonder how many of you guys catastrophizing about this actually subscribe to PSNow and have a PS5. Not many I'd wager.
Wouldn't surprise me if that were true haha.

I think the reason we don't have the PS5 version is most likely because Sony isn't as mature when it comes to working on operating system software (they've come a long way though.)
 
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This is bizarre since both games literally have free upgrades IIRC.
Seems to me like this is all just a technical issue.

Wouldn't surprise me if that were true haha.

I think the reason we don't have the PS5 version is most likely because Sony isn't as mature when it comes to working on operating system software (they've come a long way though.)
This.
 

01011001

Banned
reminds me of the shit they pulled with Control Ultimate Edition. it was PS+ but you only got the next gen version if you used a PS5 to claim it or used the app to specifically claim the PS5 version... this is some major bullshit not gonna lie, especially since it was never communicated at all. if you claimed it on a PS4 you actually did not get the ultimate edition at all, even tho it was promoted as such. you simply got the normal edition with the 2 addons separately, which is a completely different SKU, you can't even use the save files of the normal version on the Ultimate Edition of the same system. meaning technically Sony lied, they made ads telling you you get the Ultimate Edition with PS+ but you didn't get that if you claim it on PS4, which means people could totally sue them for this (I mean how many times did they get sued by now in the UK for false advertisements? it's a pattern by now)
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Didn't see this one coming.

Oh wait, yes I did.
If there's some weird cross play issue, I still dont get why it's that hard to just have two listings then. It might look weird to have a PS4 image and a PS5 image whereas Xbox just has one image and it says S/X and will do smart delivery to determine which version to download.

Or just have one PS image and when you stream/download it, you pick which system to do if they want to unclutter the store..
 

tillbot8

Banned
The spirit of Sony at E3 in 2013 seems like a distant memory now, if nothing else, things are so much more murky!
 
Isn't this because the PSNow Server racks are currently based on PS4's?

Given how many people are crying over not being able to buy actual PS5's I would wager Sony prioritised selling them to users instead of saving up chips to put in Server racks.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
I think the reason we don't have the PS5 version is most likely because Sony isn't as mature when it comes to working on operating system software (they've come a long way though.)

Its not so much that as their B/C ethos is based on hardware level emulation, not virtualization through software. Both approaches have their upsides and downsides so there's not really a right or wrong answer. Virtualization however is always going to be more flexible.
 
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