Moving to next gen consoles means paying a big price up front so it’s great to see a lot of releases this year supporting this transition without requiring double dipping as we had seen in previous times.
On PlayStation this process had actually been used starting in 2012 with smaller releases being CrossBuy between PS3, Vita and PS4 such as Hotline Miami. In 2020 we finally see this now reaching the larger scale games, including Sony first party titles.
Xbox have dipped their toe in the pay once, play elsewhere model several times with Play Anywhere during the time they were pushing the Windows 10 store before shifting focus to supporting Steam releases more. The current transitional program is named Smart Delivery and looks to focus on having only one box on shelves rather than splitting into One and Series.
PS4 TO PS5 CROSS-BUY GAMES
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Spider-Man Miles Morales
- Watch Dogs Legion
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- FIFA 21
- Madden NFL 21
- NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition
- Just Dance 2021
- Dirt 5
- Maneater
- No Man’s Sky
- Borderlands 3
- Planet Coaster
- Control Ultimate Edition
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition (18/11)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (03/12)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (08/12)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (10/12, no next gen until 2021)
- Yakuza Like A Dragon (no next gen until March 2021)
- The Witcher 3
- Destiny 2
XBOX ONE TO XBOX SERIES X CROSS-BUY GAMES
- Tetris Effect: Connected
- Yakuza Like A Dragon
- The Falconeer
- Gears Tactics
- Watch Dogs Legion
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- FIFA 21
- Madden NFL 21
- NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition
- Just Dance 2021
- Dirt 5
- Maneater
- No Man’s Sky
- Borderlands 3
- Planet Coaster
- Control Ultimate Edition
- Halo The Master Chief Edition
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition (18/11)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (03/12)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (08/12)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (10/12, no next gen until 2021)
- The Witcher 3
- Destiny 2
PS5/XBOX SERIES X GAMES WITH NO CROSS-GEN PURCHASE
- Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition – next gen only with no upgrade path
- Control – Ultimate Edition is the only version that is CrossBuy, no upgrade path for those who bought the game and Season Pass on last gen
- Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War – you can purchase an upgrade to the next gen version for $10-20 on PS4 only, no option for Xbox One
- Overcooked! All You Can Eat – next gen only with no upgrade path
- Observer: System Redux – next gen only with no upgrade path
- NBA 2K21 – Standard edition won’t get you the upgrade
HOW TO ACCESS CROSS-BUY GAMES ON YOUR PS5/XBOX SERIES X
How this offer works is different depending on if your console has a disc drive:
The PS5 (disc edition)/Xbox Series X will allow you to insert your last gen game disc to download and use a next gen game download on the new console. If you want to play that next gen game download you will need the last gen disc in the drive at all times.
Next up is the easiest situation to describe. If you have digital copies of games linked to your account they will travel with you to the next gen consoles, as simple as that. A handful of games won’t be supported on the new consoles, less than 1%. Some of your collection will also have special next gen versions available to download rather than the last gen versions, check below for those supported:
If you bought a next gen console without a disc drive you are sadly out of luck when it comes to games on a disc in general. No way to transfer them to your digital account.
