Sony has not yet given its situation on moving PS4 game recoveries to PS5. On Twitter, the Insomniac Games company isn’t helping the circumstance and is planting the seeds of uncertainty. The Californian development studio,responsible for Marvel\’s Spider-Man released on PS4 in 2018 and behind Marvel\’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales expected on PS5, is laying the groundwork: it will not be possible to transfer its save of Marvel\’s Spider-Man from PS4 to his PS5 console.
This news will not necessarily delight fans of the Sony console, already saddened to learn that the games will now cost $69.99
Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 save will not be transferable to PS5
Two days ago, on Twitter, a Marvel’s Spider-Man player asked Insomniac Games a simple question: “Could I pick up where I left off on Spiderman Remastered [the enhanced version of the game on PS5] with my file?” game save on PS4, or will I have to start all over? “. Factual response from the studio: “The backups cannot be transferred to the Remaster version”. In other words, it will not be possible to transfer his Spider-Man PS4 save to his future PS5 console.
Will it be possible to transfer my PS4 game saves to PS5?
What about other games? We know that the vast majority of PS4 games will be backward compatible with PS5 (about 99% of the game library, according to Sony). Besides that, a handful of PS4 games will also be available on PS5, but in an optimized version (same goes for Xbox One games on Xbox Series X). Some of these improved versions will be available for free through a simple update – you will obviously need to own the game on PS4 -, and others will be paid, like NBA 2K21 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
However, a distinction must be made between backward compatible PS4 games and games optimized for PS5. The backup transfer should logically be possible for the former, as is already possible between multiple PS4 consoles today. Transferring PS4 game saves to PS5 should be possible from the Sony cloud – with a PlayStation Plus subscription – or through, perhaps, a simple manual transfer. However, this should not be the case for PS4 games optimized for PS5 – like Marvel’s Spider-Man – since they will be actually upgraded ports and therefore different versions. Note that the title Insomniac Games will not be released on the PlayStation Plus Collection either, 18 of the best free games at the launch of the PS5 for all PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Microsoft is getting ahead
While Microsoft tends to homogenize its different ecosystems (Xbox, Windows), Sony is skating and showing itself both secret and cryptic on a handful of decisive subjects. On Xbox, thanks to Xbox Game Pass, you can start a game on Xbox One, complete a level on your Android smartphone using xCloud, then finish the game on Xbox Series X. The fluidity of the experience and the consistency between the services is one of Microsoft’s biggest promises for years to come. In the meantime, Sony is betting everything on temporary PS5 exclusives. Temporary because most of the PS5 exclusives will eventually be released on Windows. An operating system that belongs to Microsoft and which has just bought the ZeniMax Media group (Bethesda, Id Software, Arkane Studios, etc.) for 7.5 billion dollars. You see where we’re going: Microsoft is ahead of Sony.