Free PS5 upgrades:
You are planning the move to the new PlayStation 5 and are looking forward to free upgrades of PS4 games that you have already purchased. But what if you lose your saved games? This could be the case with some games.
PS5 upgrades: You sometimes have to play twice
As the developers of Yakuza: Like a Dragon announce on Twitter, it will be possible for players to upgrade their PS4 version to the PlayStation 5 for free. The catch: you will not be able to transfer your existing save files:
To clarify, physical owners of Yakuza: Like a Dragon on PS4 can also use the original disc to upgrade to the PS5 version when it releases on March 2, 2021.
— RGG Studio (@RGGStudio) September 28, 2020
Save data will not be transferable between the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game.
This is of course particularly annoying when players have already invested a lot of time in an open-world game, for example, and then decide to switch to the PS5. Then it’s all over from the beginning. Such a case could definitely arise in the much-anticipated Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.
The open-world adventure from Ubisoft will appear on November 10, 2020, nine days before the next-gen Sony release. That would mean that players would either accept the loss of saved games or would have to resort to the more expensive PS5 version.
In any case, there are many decisions that players have to make about when and in which version they want to purchase games in order to save either time or money.
PS4 games from Sony should be safe
Which games will be affected in the end remains to be seen. Since Sony, unlike its competitor Microsoft, does not offer the upgrade process with a centrally regulated service, but transfers responsibility for it to the developers of the individual games, the details of how the free upgrades are carried out will also differ from game to game.
At least the games from the Sony studios do not seem to be affected by a loss of memory. As confirmed on Twitter, Spider-Man: Miles Morales will support a PS4 save transfer:
Do save files transfer to ps5 if i upgrade from miles morales ps4?
— Spider-man (@Sleeper4321) September 28, 2020
It is very possible that this will be the case with other games from Sony, such as Horizon: Forbidden West. However, it has not yet been confirmed. Or just play it safe and pre-order the game for the PS5 on Amazon:
With the release of the PS5 in particular, decisions about buying games will be very tricky. Hopefully, in the near future, more developers will provide information about taking PS4 saves with you. For many gamers, this may also influence the decision to buy the upcoming consoles.
