The PlayStation 5 has officially released in select countries, and early adopters are discovering several issues with Sony's new console. One of these problems seems to be the console's confusion over which version of the game to run. Because the PS5 is backward compatible, the console defaults to using the PS4 version of the game if both PS4 and PS5 versions are owned, which is a big problem.
The PS5 has launched with a wide range of problems, including slow download speeds and a storage glitch that has caused bricked PS5 consoles. While issues surrounding brand-new consoles at launch are common, the problems continue mounting for the PlayStation 5. One of the strangest problems is that the console defaults to using a PS4 version of purchased games, if players own both the PS4 and PS5 version of that game.
At launch, there are only a few titles that are exclusive to the PlayStation 5, with most launch titles having both a PS4 and PS5 version of the game available. Upon purchasing a digital version of a game like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, for instance, the system will start downloading both versions of the game and then default to running the PS4 version. This has led to all kinds of player confusion, with some players not knowing they were playing the wrong version of a game until hours into it.
Will PS5's Game Confusion Ever Be Fixed?
In some cases, the PS5 version of the game may not even download if the PS4 version is already installed. Players have to either manually disable PS4 games from downloading, or remove the download from their system once it's finished. For now, these are the only ways to ensure people are playing the right version of the game.
This kind of game confusion on the PlayStation 5 is pretty puzzling, since it seems the default would be to current-gen PS5 games. It's not one of the biggest problems on the PS5, and while it doesn't pose any detrimental threat to the console itself, it's fairly frustrating to deal with. It's a problem that shouldn't have happened at all, and it's one that Sony should fix in a future update.
Hopefully, a fix allowing the PS5 to default to PS5 games will be coming soon. It's a strange problem to have to fix to begin with, but it's important - especially considering the small storage space on the PlayStation 5, where room of excess games is somewhat limited. People want to play the newest games on the newest console, and usually this doesn't mean they want to default to the older version. Allowing players to download the PS4 version of a game should be a perk - not a problem.