‘Spider-Man’ PS4 owners won’t get the remastered PS5 version for free

• If you own Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, there’s no free upgrade to the PS5 remaster.
• Sony said this week that the only way to get Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered is to buy Miles Morales Ultimate Edition or buy the standard edition of Miles Morales and pay for the upgrade.
• Sony has no plans to offer Spider-Man: Remastered as a standalone purchase on PS5.

In addition to being one of the most highly anticipated games of the fall, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales has also been the subject of multiple controversies. First, we weren’t sure if it was a sequel, a spinoff, or an expansion pack for the original PS4 game. Insomniac Games eventually cleared up the confusion, but then we learned last week that the game would also be launching on PS4 this fall for those who aren’t ready to buy a PS5. If you get the PS4 version of Miles Morales, you are obligated to receive a free upgrade to the PS5 version of the game.

Still with me? Probably not for long. There’s a standard edition of Miles Morales and a Miles Morales Ultimate Edition. The Ultimate Edition of the game comes with a remastered version of the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, complete with stellar graphics and effects that only the PS5 can achieve. Here’s the problem: Unless you buy Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition, you will not get Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered for free, even if you already own the original Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4. In fact, there’s no upgrade path for owners of the PS4 game.

If you somehow grasped any of what I was attempting to explain above, here is what Sony told Kotaku to explain why people who already own Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 won’t get the remastered version for free:

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered is an enhanced version of Marvel’s Spider-Man, and is included as part of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition for the PlayStation 5. In addition, players who purchase Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PlayStation 4 can upgrade at no additional cost to the PS5 version of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and can take advantage of a paid-upgrade to download Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered.

There are no plans currently to offer Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered as a standalone. Players with a copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 can purchase Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition to experience Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered on PS5. Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 also will be backwards compatible on PS5.

I actually understood everything that was communicated in that quote and my head is still spinning. Basically, if you own Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, you aren’t entitled to anything. The remastered version of the game is exclusive to the Ultimate Edition of Miles Morales, and you can’t acquire it separately. If you want to see what the PS5 version of this really good PS4 game looks like, you have to buy Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

“The paid upgrade offer is eligible both if you’re upgrading [Spider-Man: Miles Morales] from PS4 to PS5 and if you buy the standard Miles Morales edition on PS5,” Sony added in another statement to Kotaku.

Jacob started covering video games and technology in college as a hobby, but it quickly became clear to him that this was what he wanted to do for a living. He currently resides in New York writing for BGR. His previously published work can be found on TechHive, VentureBeat and Game Rant.