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EA Comments On Free PS5 And Xbox Series X Game Upgrades

Some of EA's games will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X with free upgrades, it seems.

By Eddie Makuch on May 6, 2020 at 9:37AM PDT

14 Comments

A new generation of consoles is coming this holiday with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. One of the largest game publishers in the business has now spoken about delivering free upgrades of its games for the new machines to help consumers through the transition.

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said during EA's earnings briefing that at least some of the company's titles will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X through upgrades that won't cost extra. Jorgensen shared this information in remarks about the revenue that EA is expecting during the fiscal 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 for free for the next generation," he said (emphasis added). "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."

It's worth noting here that Jorgensen shared this detail in his official prepared remarks as opposed to in response to a question where he might have gotten his words mixed up. We've followed up with EA in an attempt to get more details on this free upgrade program.

All Xbox One games, and the "overwhelming majority" of PS4 titles, will be supported on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 automatically due to the backwards compatible nature of the next-gen consoles. So it's possible Jorgensen is merely referring to how current-generation titles will play on next-generation machines without users having to pay twice.

Microsoft has announced a new program called "Smart Delivery" whereby people who buy the Xbox One version of a game can get the Xbox Series X edition at no extra cost. Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla are among the first titles confirmed to support this, but the full extent and details regarding the size and significance of the upgrades and other information remain unclear.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are set to launch this holiday season. So far, Microsoft has been significantly more forthcoming regarding its plans, having already shown off the console's form factor and promising to deliver news each month this year leading up to the release of the console. This is all part of Microsoft's "bold" plan to launch a more unique marketing strategy to compete with its rival.

EA has confirmed it plans to launch 14 new games over its next fiscal year, and some of them will release on PS5 and Xbox Series X. The company just recently confirmed that it is bringing Madden NFL 21, FIFA 21, and NHL 21 to the next-generation consoles. A new Battlefield game from developer DICE is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, but not until 2021.

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FuhrerKingBosco

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FuhrerKingBosco

Man, even the writer can't be bothered to mention NHL is missing :( Just the often poorly reviewed and cancelled NBA Live.

Upvote • 3 years ago

Atzenkiller

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Well, yeah. MS needs to do anything it can to get ahead. But so far I haven't seen anything that will make a difference for them in the next gen. Knowing that the next Xbox will look like a trash can is really important though.

Upvote • 3 years ago

TwoGirlsOneCub

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Edited By TwoGirlsOneCub

@Atzenkiller: Nah, they've done plenty. Here's a simple fact for you - without going into details of what an excellent job MS have done in the past three year. Xbox One sold 50 million units despite being strongly derided for the first three years of it's life cycle. Now, Microsoft are doing everything that Xbox fans actually want meanwhile everything Sony announces is a disappointment. Xbox Series X is positioned to at the very least be neck and neck with PS5 in success. Even if they sell a bit less units their business model is more profitable than Sony's.

And BTW, I'd rather have a system that looked like a trashcan but the games looked and performed better than a sleek looking system where the games looked and performed worse. Ie., when I game, I'm looking at the screen not the box. And If we're talking about something that looks bad... Dualsense.

Upvote • 3 years ago

Atzenkiller

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@twogirlsonecub: What world are you living in? Sony still has all the exclusive titles that people care about, with the Last of Us 2 coming out soon. While all MS has is Halo and Gears, which only Xbox fanboys care about anyway. It's the Xbox owners that I see complain about the lack of exclusive titles all the time.

And most "exclusives" that Sony has are a result of them having a console that the Japanese actually care about. The Xbox has never sold anything over there, and as a result many smaller non blockbuster console titles only get released for the PS. That's why MS just doesn't stand a chance anymore, no matter what they do. And from what I've seen so far MS and Sony will be pretty even in the next gen. The Xbox is supposed to be slightly more powerful, but as Sony's main designer for it explained that might be purely because Sony took a different approach. And Sony's hard drives might be better than MS'. But that also probably won't make any real difference considering how fast both will be compared to what we have currently.

So what is it that will make the difference? The complete lack of exclusive titles on the Xbox and that many smaller Japanese developers don't bother porting their games to it. The only reason why MS has ever been able to get ahead with the Xbox360 was because they released it about a year before the PS3, and at a very low price, at the cost of really outdated hardware that then held back games throughout the whole gen. And you can be sure that Sony is not going to make that same mistake again. So how is MS supposed to stand a chance and ever become more successful again than they have in this gen? I don't see it.

And why are you feeling offended? The Xbox looks like a trash can but I don't care either way. It's not why I don't care about buying one and I don't need to trash talk it to make myself feel better about my choice. I've only stated how things look to me, not my view and opinion of how I'd like things to be.

Upvote • 3 years ago

TwoGirlsOneCub

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Edited By TwoGirlsOneCub

@Atzenkiller: What world are you living in because people don't really care about Sony exclusives. Yeah, they are a nice bonus but your comment about only Microsoft fanboys liking its exclusive equally applies to Sony. PS4 sold 110 million units and the average Sony exclusive sells 8 million copies.

Don't care about the Japanese market and 360 era has made it generally irrelevant.

Sony devs will obviously come up with excuses because they have a vested interest. But a faster SSD isn't going to beat out every other advantage XSX has. And BTW Microsoft has it's own bespoke secret sauce for handling memory better like keeping redundant assets out of RAM for example, meaning they don't even have to resort to using virual RAM as much as PS5 does.

Um, 360 was more capable gaming hardware than PS3. Also it introduced a lot of gamers to actually good gameplay instead of the typical unnecessarily convoluted overly designed crap with cheesy anime aesthetic that came out of Japan at the time.

Sony aren't going to make the same mistake? Have you been following the news? PS5 is a lot weaker, going to have a limited supply, and be more expensive than previously anticipated. That's not even going into the fact that it's not even as feature rich as XSX.

Well, it's actually pretty plain how they might be more profitable. They have better services. Gamepass is a huge success while PS Now, which even though it's getting better, is nowhere near the same level and has the stink of what it was still wafting over it. Also, Playstation players aren't as accepting of PS Plus as Xbox players are of XLG or Gamepass Ultimate. Sort of like PS3 sold a few more units than Xbox 360 but they cost twice as much to produce as the more capable Xbox 360 and Microsoft had already a huge XBLG subscription base while Sony had a hard time convincing its user base to subscribe to PS Plus until the PS4.

Why are you feeling offended by the facts, is the question. I'm just pointing out that the logic of knocking on a better system for it's design - which is part of what allows it to be better actually - doesn't make sense. In fact it seems a bit desperate for something to complain about when there's so much real stuff to complain about PS5.

Upvote • 3 years ago

SystemOverload

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Only some PS4 games will be playable on PS5? What is Sony doing different than Microsoft? It is like Sony is a generation behind Microsoft....

2 • 3 years ago

TwoGirlsOneCub

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Edited By TwoGirlsOneCub

@systemoverload: That's actually very true and the reason for this is Sony got distracted with VR. Three years ago when next-gen plans had to be well into development VR was a big buzzword. Sure, gamers knew it wasn't going to happen, Microsoft learned their lesson and knew it wasn't going to happen, but it's understandable why some companies wanted to push it. So they put a lot of the funding and research into that when they should have just focused on the basics and making those better which is what Microsoft did. The end result was Sony half assing a lot of things like PS4 Pro.

Then when they realized VR isn't happening they had to redesign PS5 and it ended up poorer for it. Though, you can still see vestiges of their previous plan for PS5 which was going to have a heavy VR focus. Like the Dualsense which was clearly designed with the VR headset aesthetic and features in mind.

Upvote • 3 years ago

SParent180

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@systemoverload: MS is just more ahead of the game when it comes to backwards compatibility. The feature on Series X is an extension of what was available on Xbox One so any game that worked on am Xbox One console will work on Series X.

Sony is a little late to the game with BC since this feature never came to PS4. While PS5 will be able to play PS4 games there are still questions about how the feature works due to Sony's comments on the feature. It sounds like games need to be tested on a game to game basis, and even then there is confusion because there seems to be 3 different modes for the feature (PS4, PS4 Pro, PS5 Boost). Will all PS4 games work on PS5 in PS4 mode? Are there issues with games running in PS4 and PS4 Pro mode or just with PS5 Boost? And then in regards to PS5 boost is this a system level feature where the console improves frame rate and resolution? Does it require or allow developers to patch PS4 games with a next gen patch, similar to Series X's Smart Feature?

Hopefully Sony gives more details and clarification on the feature soon.

Upvote • 3 years ago

DarkCaptain3

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@systemoverload: Currently its the same for both consoles, not all of their games will be compatible. I believe this isn't refering to hardware limitations but rather what the game itself entails. There are some games that might have discontinued online support or something that makes no sense to get support to transfer it over. The older CoD's would fit into this category.

Upvote • 3 years ago

sladakrobot

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Edited By sladakrobot

In the last 10 years i bought just one EA game and it was Jedi:Fallen Order.

I hope there will be a decent upgrade for next gen...of course any news about a sequel is welcome as long it has no multiplayer and no mt's

4 • 3 years ago

sippio

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@sladakrobot: A lot of EA games we're good last Gen(360/PS3)

The Sabateur,,The Godfather1+2,,Daunte Inferno,,Battlefield Bad Company1+2),,,

Medal of Honor,,Mass Effects,,Need4Speed HotPursuit(pick which NFS)

I made this quick list by looking up @my PS3 +Xbox360 shelves...

I recently busted out my storage bins of last gen because o similar view that you just posted...

**I think a lot of these games are olde rthen 10 years though...Is MassEffect that old already? dmn!

~~Im not a racing buff but own about 8-10 racing games.

If I eventually exaust last gen titles then there's always PS2/OG Xbox generation ;D

Upvote • 3 years ago

sladakrobot

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Edited By sladakrobot

@sippio: I bought back then Dantes Inferno...nice game.

Never was into Mass Effect at the time and i would like to play it but only if its remade or remaked for newer gens(ME1-3).

I just checked my games library and i realized i lied(shame on me)...i indeed bought DA:Inquisition in the year 2015. Imo,good game just the combat was messy(the mix of realtime and managment of NPCs in the party...i almost never felt like the NPCs played like i ordered them to).

So thats 2 EA games i bought in the last 10 years

Upvote • 3 years ago

sippio

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"FREE" Saying this to EA is consider Aggravated Assault!

2 • 3 years ago