Sony confirms no free PS4 upgrade path for Spider-Man: Remastered
But PS4 Miles Morales owners can upgrade for $20.
Following last week's news that the Ultimate Edition of Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS5 would include a remaster of the original PS4 Spider-Man, Sony has moved to offer clarification on the many questions still surrounding its release, confirming, among other things, that there's no free upgrade path for existing Spider-Man owners on PS4.
Sony broke down the somewhat convoluted ins and outs of its Spider-Man remaster in a statement provided to Kotaku. The key takeaway, however, is that while some PS4 titles will include a free upgrade path to their PS5 counterparts, this doesn't apply to Spider-Man: Remastered, and existing Spider-Man owners will need to buy Miles Morales, which releases on 12th November, in order to get the enhanced edition.
On PlayStation 5, the most straightforward way to acquire Spider-Man: Remastered is to purchase the £69.99 Ultimate Edition of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but the situation on Sony's current-gen console is a little more involved.
The first thing to note is that those who buy the PS4 version of Miles Morales (which has no Ultimate Edition option) do get the PS5 version at no extra cost, but only the equivalent of PS5's standard version. To acquire Spider-Man: Remastered from there, players will need to purchase a paid upgrade, which will cost an additional $20 USD. This option, incidentally, is also available to anyone that buys Miles Morales' standard edition on PS5. Notably, Sony says "there are no plans currently to offer Marvel's-Spider-Man: Remastered as a standalone."
Of course, those that already own the PS4 version of Spider-Man will be able to play it on PS5, but they won't benefit from the various additions being implemented for Remastered.
Insomniac has previously called its remaster (which, incidentally, won't work with PS4 saves) "no simple up-res", confirming it will feature "better-looking characters with improved skin, eyes, hair, and facial animation [as well as] ray-traced reflections and ambient shadows, improved lighting, more pedestrians and vehicles stretching further into the distance, and the same optional performance mode offered on Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales".
It also includes three new Spider-Man suits, new photo mode features, new Trophies, and all three episodes of The City That Never Sleeps DLC.