PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass have both proven to be popular subscription services that offer a number of free games for a monthly cost. To kick off 2021, Game Pass added games such as Cyber Shadow and The Medium, while PS Plus' free games for January included PS4 titles Shadow of the Tomb Raider and GreedFall. Five months later, the next-gen version of GreedFall is due to arrive soon, but PS Plus subscribers may find it more expensive to enjoy the next-gen upgrades than initially expected.
Tomorrow is an important date for GreedFall fans, as it marks the day of release for the game on PS5 and will add the new De Vespe Conspiracy expansion for no extra cost. The new release has been dubbed GreedFall: Gold Edition and offers next-gen console owners faster load times and native 4K among other improvements. But for PlayStation gamers who downloaded GreedFall for free earlier this year, it turns out they will have to pay the full $40 for the PS5 version.
This news was recently confirmed by the official GreedFall Twitter account. While GreedFall owners who purchased the game on PS4 through some other avenue will have access to the upgrades, it's frustrating for gamers who put time into the PS Plus version of GreedFall. Though the game was only available for a short time on the service, many players downloaded it and likely sank 40+ hours into the RPG.
What makes this more frustrating for PS Plus subscribers is that those who downloaded GreedFall for free via Xbox Game Pass will get the next-gen upgrade for free on Xbox Series X|S. GreedFall has been on Game Pass since December of last year, and it was one of the few games that came out for Android, console, and PC that month. So far it isn't clear why PS Plus won't be offering the upgrade for its version of GreedFall, but this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
Many PlayStation gamers will know that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade owners face a similar problem. The game's recent Yuffie DLC is only available on the PS5 version, so players who want to continue the story will have to shell out the full $70 for the game if they played the PS Plus free version. This puts PS Plus subscribers in a tough spot because while free games are great, subscribers may have to eventually buy them anyway if new content is released.
Although there is no indication right now that Sony has plans to change the PS Plus free game upgrade costs, it might become an even bigger issue should more games run into this problem. While the service is certainly a success for Sony, making next-gen upgrades free would allow PS Plus to be an even more efficient rival to Xbox Game Pass.
GreedFall: Gold Edition releases for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on June 30.
