The PlayStation 5’s launch lineup includes several “cross-gen” games that are also available on the PlayStation 4. The PS5 ports will look and play much better than the PS4 versions, and some developers let users upgrade to the enhanced PS5 versions for free. However, this brings up two important questions: Will your PS4 save data be compatible with PS5 games? And will you be able to play your favorite multiplayer games over cross-play?
The answer to both is a resounding, “it depends.” Let’s start with the cross-save issue.
PlayStation 5 cross-save games
Unfortunately, only some PS5 cross-gen games will let you import your PS4 save data to the PS5 version. This capability is up to the developers. Annoyingly, many games that offer free upgrades to the PS5 version do not let you carry over your save files.
That doesn’t mean your PS4 saves won’t carry over to the PS5. The vast majority of PS4 games can be played on PS5, and your save data will carry over just fine. This obstruction only applies when you’re upgrading from the PS4 version of a game to the PS5 version—and this is where things get confusing.
Let’s use Yakuza: Like a Dragon as an example, since it will have PS4 and PS5 versions—both of which are technically playable on PS5. Sega will let PS4 players upgrade to the PS5 version when it releases next year, but you won’t be able to carry over your PS4 save file to the PS5 version. However, you can play the PS4 version of Yakuza on your PS5 and continue your save game that way instead—but that’s a sub-optimal solution to an unnecessarily confusing issue.
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To help bring some clarity, here’s the list of cross-gen games that will let you import your PS4 saves to the PS5 (so far):
- Borderlands 3
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Dead by Daylight
- FIFA 21 (Only Ultimate Team, Volta Football data)
- For Honor
- Fortnite
- Madden NFL 21 (MUT, Franchise, and Yard data)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Marvel’s Avengers
- NBA 2K21 (Only MyTeam data)
- No Man’s Sky
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure (after post-launch patch)
More titles may be added to the list in the future, but for now, if a game isn’t on that list then you’ll have to either start fresh with the PS5 version or play your PS4 copy on the PS5 if you want to keep your progression.
PlayStation 5 cross-play games
The PS5’s cross-play situation is much simpler than cross-saving, thankfully. Here’s a list of all the PS5 titles that will let you play with others on different platforms (so far):
- Apex Legends
- Borderlands 3
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Dead by Daylight
- DIRT 5
- Fortnite
- Mortal Kombat 11
- No Man’s Sky
- Overcooked: All You Can Eat
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
That list only includes PS5-specific games. As mentioned earlier, most PS4 games are also playable on PS5, but Sony says some multiplayer modes and online features (like cross-play) may not work properly if you’re playing on PS5. We won’t know specifics until more people test their PS4 library’s compatibility on PS5. Similarly, just because a game has cross-play does not mean your progression carries over. Refer to the cross-save list above to see which PS5 games let you import your PS4 progression.
