The folks over at PlayStation have offered up a bit more information on their next generation plans following today’s big launch day reveal, most notably disclosing how much it’ll be charging for first-party titles on PlayStation 5.
Like other publishers, it looks like PlayStation is adding a bit of a next-gen upcharge to its new releases. According to Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, games from SIE Worldwide Studios will run anywhere between $49.99 and $69.99 on PlayStation 5.
That range is well-represented in PlayStation’s first-party launch lineup. Of the four retail games currently announced as internally developed launch games, two are priced at $69.99 (Demon’s Souls and Destruction AllStars), one is priced at $59.99 (Sackboy A Big Adventure), and the last at $49.99 (Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales).
Building on those launch plans, PlayStation announced that a small selection of PlayStation 4 games will be downloadable on PS5 by PlayStation Plus subscribers at launch. Those 15 titles represent what PlayStation believes is a generation-defining collection of PS4 releases and includes titles like Bloodborne, Persona 5, God of War, and more.
One other interesting tidbit from PlayStation’s blog post roundup is that the company isn’t entirely shying away from multi-generational launches as some interviews had previously suggested. Two launch titles, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy A Big Adventure) will launch on PlayStation 4 as well as PlayStation 5. The same is true for Horizon Forbidden West, which will launch in 2021.
“While these three games were designed to take advantage of PS5 and its unique next-gen features like the ultra-high-speed SSD and DualSense controller, PS4 owners will also be able to enjoy these experiences when they launch,” reads Ryan’s blog post. He explains that the decision is born out of the realization that “the PS4 community will transition to PlayStation 5 at different times,” somewhat mirroring Xbox’s reasoning for making all of their own first-party games multi-generation releases.
As such, PlayStation will also allow those that buy PS5 launch games on PS4 to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free once they make the next-gen jump. Given that the wording here specifies launch games, it seems that Horizon Forbidden West isn’t included in this free upgrade promise despite its plans to launch for both PS4 and PS5.