PS4 games with a PS5 upgrade won't need a disc if you buy the game digitally; it appears PS5 physical and digital games are no longer separate IDs

[Darknight]

This has been something I've been curious about for awhile but it was too soon for most people to test this out. On the PS4, Sony treated the physical and digital version of a game as separate IDs. What makes this annoying is if you have a physical copy of the game installed on your system and decide to get the digital version, you need to uninstall the game first and then redownload it rather than a digital purchase simply removing the need to insert the disc.

Now while I haven't tested this with a PS5 game on a disc and buying the digital version, I can confirm that my PS5 upgrade from the PS4 version of Maneater simply unlocked the need for the disc once I obtained the digital version from PS Plus which is a clear difference from how things were handled for PS4 games. My guess is the same will hold true for PS5 games on a disc as well. I wish Sony could fix this for PS4 games retroactively, but I'm glad that this barrier seems to no longer exist for PS5 games moving forward.

Edit: It appears this only applies to upgrades where as Sony still keeps physical and digital version of PS5 games as separate IDs. That's a pretty big let down for me that they didn't resolve this moving forward.

 

[Still a Gray Area]

This would be great news if so. Isn't Maneater a separate game on PS5? Why would you need the PS4 disk at all?

 

[Darknight]

This would be great news if so. Isn't Maneater a separate game on PS5? Why would you need the PS4 disk at all?

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The PS4 version has a free PS5 upgrade which is a download of the full PS5 version but you need the disc inserted in order to play it after you've installed it.

 

[EssBeeVee]

The PS4 version has a free PS5 upgrade which is a download of the full PS5 version but you need the disc inserted in order to play it after you've installed it.

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but how would you know it works. you got the ps5 upgrade but then you said you got the game with ps plus which is the ps5 version.

 

[Tora]

The PS4 version has a free PS5 upgrade which is a download of the full PS5 version but you need the disc inserted in order to play it after you've installed it.

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Sounds like more testing is needed, because technically you already had the digital PS5 version in this case? Might be reading this wrong

 

[Halbrand]

This is great, that was a real annoyance on PS4

 

[Deleted member 16876]

So you can basically share your disc and the get the game for free? Am I reading this right?

Edit: Yeah I seem to have misread this.

 

[Still a Gray Area]

but how would you know it works. you got the ps5 upgrade but then you said you got the game with ps plus which is the ps5 version.

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This right here.

 

[Darknight]

but how would you know it works. you got the ps5 upgrade but then you said you got the game with ps plus which is the ps5 version.

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Because prior to adding Maneater to my library because of PS Plus, I had to put the PS4 disc in in order to play the PS5 version. Once I added it to my library, I didn't need to delete and reinstall it like I would have normally for PS4 games. It simply removed the need to put the disc in to validate the game.

 

[androvsky]

The thing I find interesting (possibly related) is I did the free PS5 upgrade for No Man's Sky, and while it still requires the disc in order to play it, it does not spin the disc up when I play the game. The system does spin up the disc when I start a regular PS4 game.

Does the PS5 spin the disc when starting normal PS5 games like Demon's Souls?

 

[EssBeeVee]

Because prior to adding Maneater to my library because of PS Plus, I had to put the PS4 disc in in order to play the PS5 version. Once I added it to my library, I didn't need to delete and reinstall it like I would have normally for PS4 games. It simply removed the need to put the disc in to validate the game.

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was this done before maneater was shown as free for ps+ on the store? because it could have just triggered the oh its a ps+ title. so we'll just give you that one.

 

[mrmoose]

The thing I find interesting (possibly related) is I did the free PS5 upgrade for No Man's Sky, and while it still requires the disc in order to play it, it does not spin the disc up when I play the game. The system does spin up the disc when I start a regular PS4 game.

Does the PS5 spin the disc when starting normal PS5 games like Demon's Souls?

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I would think it has to spin the disc at least the first time you load it, no? Otherwise how does it know that you put the NMS disc in?

 

[Perkin_Warbeck]

I had thought they already merged the digital and disc versions of the games? I seem to recall seamlessly switching from disk to digital copies of Dark Souls 3 and Dues Ex Mankind Divided. In both cases, adding the game to my digital library effectively appeared to just remove the disk check from what I already had on my drive.

 

[Darknight]

was this done before maneater was shown as free for ps+ on the store? because it could have just triggered the oh its a ps+ title. so we'll just give you that one.

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Yep, prior to adding it to the library, it would ask for the disc to be inserted. I had to go to the store page and explicitly select to add it to my library and once I did, then the disc check was removed.

I had thought they already merged the digital and disc versions of the games? I seem to recall seamlessly switching from disk to digital copies of Dark Souls 3 and Dues Ex Mankind Divided. In both cases, adding the game to my digital library effectively appeared to just remove the disk check from what I already had on my drive.

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This never worked for PS4 games.

 

[SDR-UK]

Can confirm this is wrong or Maneater is somehow an outlier.

I have Demon's Souls both physically and digitally and I had to redownload for the digital edition.

 

[Lemony1984]

This is such a weird thread. Obviously the PS4 disc gives you the digital version of the ps5 game. It's not gonna give you the PS5 disc version.

Nothing in there proves the same for PS5 disc and digital games.

 

[Lionheart]

Thats why PS5 downloads your game upon installing for the first time, I don't think it installs via the disc

I would be curious to try installing with the Ethernet unplugged

 

[Darknight]

Can confirm this is wrong.

I have Demon's Souls both physically and digitally and I had to redownload for the digital edition.

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Well crap, this sucks then that they didn't fix this and it only applies to upgrades. That's extremely disappointing that we're going to have another generate of this where they keep them separate.

 

[Instant Vintage]

I think some are misunderstanding what Darknight is saying.

On PS4, I owned Borderlands 3 via disc. When I upgraded to the PS5 version, I own it, but it still needs the PS4 disc to validate the software; the 'key' as it were.

If I were to buy the digital version on PS4, I would have to delete the entire game and download it again, as it has different ID keys (1A for the Disc, 1B for the digital). This is no longer the case for PS5; once I buy the digital version of BL3, I can immediately play it without the disc AND without uninstalling the 'disc' version and downloading the 'digital' version.

It's one of the small things that bothered me with PS4 and I praised Xbox One for. For example, I have DOOM (2016) on disc, but once it went up on Gamepass, I didn't need the disc anymore to start the game and I didn't have to redownload it. (I do now because it went off of Gamepass, but it'll be back.)

FAKE EDIT: So it's for upgrades. Crap. Oh well, leaving this post up for historical reasons.

 

[SDR-UK]

This is such a weird thread. Obviously the PS4 disc gives you the digital version of the ps5 game. It's not gonna give you the PS5 disc version.

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This is the exact same thing that happened with PS3 to PS4 stuff. Black Flag, Battlefield and Call of Duty Ghosts all unlocked when you purchased the digital.

This does not work with native PS5 titles. I had to redownload Demon's Souls after installing from the disc. I'd wager its the same if I opened my copy of Miles Morales too.

 

[androvsky]

I would think it has to spin the disc at least the first time you load it, no? Otherwise how does it know that you put the NMS disc in?

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Yes, and it checks the disc every hour whether I'm playing NMS or not. But when I go to start the game it doesn't bother.

 

[dancingphlower]

Yeah sounds like this applies only to the digital upgrades to PS4 discs since technically you're downloading the digital version from PSN and not copying from a disc so I imagine the ID is the same in that case? Weird that Sony is so behind the times compared to Microsoft on this front.

 

[Darknight]

Yeah sounds like this applies only to the digital upgrades to PS4 discs since technically you're downloading the digital version from PSN and not copying from a disc so I imagine the ID is the same in that case? Weird that Sony is so behind the times compared to Microsoft on this front.

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Ya, I assumed since it removed the disc check from the PS5 upgrades that they finally resolved this.

 

[G_Shumi]

Finally! I always hated having to do that, especially since some games have save data that only apply to either the physical or digital version but not both. Having to restart games sucked because of this.

 

[Darknight]

Finally! I always hated having to do that, especially since some games have save data that only apply to either the physical or digital version but not both. Having to restart games sucked because of this.

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Turns out this only is for upgrades as someone said they have Demon's Souls both physical and digital and they had to delete and then download in order to play without a disc.

 

[thediamondage]

Yeah this is not true unification like xbox has, in the future when PS5 versions of games are out you can't install from disc, play for a while, give the disc to a friend (or trade in), buy digital, and just keep playing like you can on xbox. You still have to delete your install and download the digital copy of the game. Smart Delivery on xbox is really, really fantastic and lets you have one version and it auto figures out what to do best depending on your hardware (PC, S, X, phone, etc).

One weird advantage on PS5 though is if you buy the PS4 edition of a game you can get two platinums, the PS4 and PS5 version. You usually will have to play the game twice, but not always. For example I plat'd No Mans Sky long ago on my PS4, downloaded and ran the PS5 version and got another platinum trophy as it racked up all my achievements one after another. But most games will require a replay.

Its also weird for new games, for example I bought Hitman 3 Deluxe PS5 edition which is 20% off, $64. The PS4 edition is only 10% off, $72. Only the PS4 edition will have VR. I assume i'll only be able to play the PS5 edition, no VR. if I did want VR on my PS5, I'd have to have TWO copies of the game installed. lol

 

[G_Shumi]

Turns out this only is for upgrades as someone said they have Demon's Souls both physical and digital and they had to delete and then download in order to play without a disc.

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Oh boo. Never mind then. Lol.

 

[MercuryLS]

Turns out this only is for upgrades as someone said they have Demon's Souls both physical and digital and they had to delete and then download in order to play without a disc.

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Yeah it still works the same way. It's dumb, I had to redownload Cold War when I purchased it digitally. It should just remove the disc key from the download when you go digital with a game.

 

[logash]

It is actually just a bit worse on PS5. Not like this is common but I experimented a bit with it and on PS4 if for w.e crazy reason, you decide that you want to replace the digital version with the disc version you would just insert the disc and confirm. After that digital copy would turn into the physical version with no need to install again from disc or patch. On PS5 it deletes it completely and reinstalls it from scratch using the disc. Idk why anyone would choose to have the disc version installed if they own both but it was neat to know.

 

[EvilBoris]

Because prior to adding Maneater to my library because of PS Plus, I had to put the PS4 disc in in order to play the PS5 version. Once I added it to my library, I didn't need to delete and reinstall it like I would have normally for PS4 games. It simply removed the need to put the disc in to validate the game.

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Thats because the PS5 version is a digital download in both examples.

You'd need to install a PS5 game from disc then Obtain it digitally in order to know

 

[SDR-UK]

Thats because the PS5 version is a digital download in both examples.

You'd need to install a PS5 game from disc then Obtain it digitally in order to know

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I've already confirmed this doesn't work.

Demon's Souls required me to delete my disc version in order to replace with the digital edition.

 

[Fisty]

Weird, so when you upgrade they can force a digital PS5 version of a game to check for a PS4 disc as well as remove that disc check requirement when you buy a digital license? Odd that they wouldn't merge the PS5 game id for digital and disc if they already have that functionality

 

[Darknight]

It is actually just a bit worse on PS5. Not like this is common but I experimented a bit with it and on PS4 if for w.e crazy reason, you decide that you want to replace the digital version with the disc version you would just insert the disc and confirm. After that digital copy would turn into the physical version with no need to install again from disc or patch. On PS5 it deletes it completely and reinstalls it from scratch using the disc. Idk why anyone would choose to have the disc version installed if they own both but it was neat to know.

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Wow, that's fascinating to know. So going from Physical to Digital is a problem, but going Digital to Physical is seamless? That seems weird that it works in one direction but not the other. I would have expected it to be how you describe the PS5 handles it where you need to delete and then reinstall it just like how you'd have to do that for going from Physical to Digital. Agreed that I don't know why anyone would do that, but still interesting to know.

Thats because the PS5 version is a digital download in both examples.

You'd need to install a PS5 game from disc then Obtain it digitally in order to know

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I assumed they were handling things a bit different for a couple reasons. First, they had a disc check so I was assuming they were having a flag or something to check and everything was the same otherwise just like they do it on Xbox. Second, it seemed to list them as two different things on the game page because it would say I owned it and then another button would allow you to buy the digital version. So between those two things, I assumed they weren't quite the same and yet in the end it was unifying everything as one whole thing like how Microsoft handles it. Clearly I was mistaken, but it wasn't exactly behaving like the digital version by all accounts.

 

[Akelisrain]

So, are you telling me I cam start the ps5 version of my Miles Morales without the disk. Since I installed it free upgrade? My son can play on the ps4 and I can also on the 5 without disk?

 

[SDR-UK]

So, are you telling me I cam start the ps5 version of my Miles Morales without the disk. Since I installed it free upgrade? My son can play on the ps4 and I can also on the 5 without disk?

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If you buy the digital version of the game which would take away the DRM check, yes. Otherwise not a chance in hell.

 

[Akelisrain]

If you buy the digital version of the game which would take away the DRM check, yes. Otherwise not a chance in hell.

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Okay, I thought that didn't make sense.