PS5 Cross-Gen Save Support Is Up To Developers, Sony Confirms

One of the more confusing aspects of Sony's approach to cross-generation support between the PS4 and upcoming PS5 has been cross-gen saves. Sony has clarified its stance on the matter, stating that it's up to developers to ensure the feature is supported.

In a detailed breakdown of cross-generation features included with the PS5 (such as backwards compatibility for games, accessories, and PSVR), Sony confirmed that players will be able to transfer their saves between the consoles using a LAN connection, Wi-Fi, or the cloud (which requires PlayStation Plus). This confirms that save transfer functionality is inherently supported by the PS5 and its operating system, with a disclaimer from Sony that it is up to individual developers to ensure they support the feature.

"Please note that the ability to transfer game saves between a PS4 version and a PS5 version of the same game is a developer decision and will vary title by title for cross-generational games," the blog post reads.

This somewhat explains the inconsistent approach to this that has been surfacing over the past few weeks. Yakuza: Like a Dragon developer RGG Studio confirmed that while it will support save transfers between Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the same won't be the case for PS4 and PS5. Dirt 5 developer Codemasters have taken the same stance, while even one of Sony's first-party studios, Insomniac Games, is not supporting save transfers for Spider-Man Remastered.

It's clear that there is some hurdle when transferring saves that requires work on the developer's side, which may not be a priority. At least Sony has confirmed that the large majority of PS4 games will be compatible with PS5 (and benefit from Game Boost) when it launches this November 10.