EA's cross-gen games this year will offer free upgrades to PS5 and Xbox Series X
EA has revealed that owners of its games will be able to upgrade to the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions for free.
As part of EA's earnings call for Q4 of its fiscal year 2020, the publisher confirmed that its cross-gen games launching this year can be upgraded for free to work on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
EA COO, Blake Jorgensen, pointed out that EA recognised the impact of this on its revenue for FY2021, but that it shouldn't affect net sales for the full year.
"Note that this year, the phasing includes the effect of revenue recognition from the games we are launching for the current generation of consoles that can also be upgraded free for the next generation. We've made a preliminary estimate of that impact in the phasing, but it should be noted that this will not affect net bookings for the full year, nor cash flow, just the timing of recognition," Jorgensen told investors.
Jorgensen didn't elaborate further as to how this upgrade scheme is going to work, or what games will support it.
Microsoft has, of course, already confirmed that all of its first-party games will benefit from the Smart Delivery feature, which enables players to buy the game once and get the appropriate version for their console. Third-party studios, such as CD Projekt Red, are taking advantage of this with Cyberpunk 2077, but the decision is ultimately up to publishers.
Sony has yet to make a similar commitment, but Jorgensen's comments seem to suggest that PS5 won't be so different from Xbox Series X in that regard. Unless, of course, the executive is simply referring to backwards compatibility, which will enable owners of, say FIFA 21 - a cross-gen game - to play the PS4/Xbox One version on PS5/Xbox Series X.
Thanks, Games Radar.