PS5 Update Adds Alerts For When You're Running PS4 Versions Of Games

A new PS5 update adds alerts if the system detects that you may be accidentally running the last-gen version of a game that has an updated PS5 version. The update solves a confusing issue that fans have been hitting since the new console launched.

As noted by Twitter user Tidux and confirmed by GameSpot, starting the PS4 version of a game on your PS5 will now prompt a dialogue box. That alerts the user that they're launching the last-gen version and allowing them to switch to the PS5 version instead.

When the console first launched, various cross-generation games would default to their PS4 versions, leaving users playing the older games on their shiny new hardware. Some even felt underwhelmed by the new console because the games didn't look noticeably better, when they were accidentally looking at the PS4 versions. The issue can even cause the console to default to the PS4 version when you are playing the PS5-only version of a game like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which could prompt confusion when the game doesn't end up actually loading. This update would appear take a step to resolve that problem, but both versions of the games will often try to update, even if you are only playing the PS5 version.

Still, the solution is slightly less elegant than Xbox Smart Delivery, which simply auto-detects which version is optimized for your hardware and downloads the correct one. Smart Delivery also lends itself to more hardware iteration, which Microsoft has hinted at by claiming this generation is simply called "Xbox."

Previously you had to follow a series of steps to confirm you're playing the correct version on PS5. That included going through an options menu next to the main game page and selecting the three dots icon to open a menu that would show you the platform explicitly.

Sony has branding to mark games that offer free cross-generation upgrades, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Third-parties are able to determine for themselves whether to offer free upgrades, but so far many of them are. Ubisoft is offering its entire fall catalogue with free upgrades, and EA is offering upgrades to its sports franchises through its duel entitlement program.