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.
PS Now, as it is right now, is a PS4 service – there are no PS5 games included on it. However, we do feel this once again underlines the messy transition that Sony’s console is going through. With both Marvel’s Avengers and Borderlands 3 offering native PS5 versions with free upgrades, many PS Now subscribers had rightly assumed they’d get access to the next-gen ports as well. That’s not the case.
It’s still a good update for the subscription service, but it’s perhaps a reminder that the platform holder needs to go back to the drawing board a bit here. Despite efforts to improve the quality of PS Now – which, to be fair, have been somewhat successful – it still doesn’t feel like the firm is taking the service seriously. Hopefully by the end of the year the organisation will have revamped everything, so misunderstandings like this one cease to exist.
