Following Wreckfest's Free Xbox Series X Patch, It's Now Getting A $10 Upgrade On PS5

LOL, glad i am an Xbox user.

Yikes! I just played through this last month on the PS$ and had a decent time with it. Definitely not a good look here though.

Having it in gamepass is the only reason I'm playing it and it's 4K 60 so no complaints on my end.

I tried this the first day it was on Game Pass, but the online servers were down. Is this resolved now? Could be great fun, I imagine.

Very odd. Definitely a "I have Xbox so will say free 'half baked' version is best" versus "I have PS5 so improved version for 10$ is best" situation.
It almost feels like its an experiment. Do people want to pay a tiny cost for a 'next gen' version or do they prefer just upping the res to 4k60 for free?
Me personally would prefer both as options. If all my favourite games offered all those improvements I'd think about paying 10$ for it - but not for something I've got as part of Game pass though. That would feel like a scam for some reason. PErhaps thats why they don't offer it on Series X?

As ponted out on Pushsquare this is a native version on Ps5

@TrueAssassin86x @StonyKL That may be the case because backcompat non native titles don’t perform as good on PS5 as on Series X.

If this was a big title then maybe they would profit from this but I doubt many people will pay that price for this game

I mean the game itself is less than £15 on amazon

Free res bump > paid upgrade. That being said, at least they're not selling you the game you already bought once again.

Then you have Activision charging for an upgrade to Tony Hawk on both consoles. But Crash upgrade was free.

Its all one big mess and companies almost cherry picking when to charge and where.

@Medic_Alert it has to be due to the lack of an actual back compat and them actually having to build a native port. You can buy it once on PC and play it on a min spec machine or a top of the line rig and the performance upgrades you will see are "free". People need to push back on this so that PlayStation changes their methodology for a PS6 if they make one and to hold the greedy publishers back from this practice. Will they be charging for patches in the future? There are many different demographics but im in the "if it's not in gamepass I'm not playing it, and i want my 1st party DLC included"...so the cheapofillipo crew....I'm pretty sure it's actually a rather large crew.

Difficult to know exactly what's going on here. Obviously, there is a LOT more work to porting the game specifically to a 'new' SKU than patching in some new settings.

We all know the Playstation doesn't handle Backwards Compatibility in the same way and this is likely why it costs money on PS5 to upgrade and took longer too. That would also allow them to do a 'bit' more, particularly around Haptic Feedback. The Series S/X and XB1 controllers function identically so no need to change anything.

Wreckfast for me would be a game that I'd be happy with a Free upgrade to 60fps on Xbox over paying £10 for a next gen version - at least without seeing and 'feeling' what the PS5 version offers over a Xbox One enhanced through BC on Series X edition. Maybe the combination of the Visual upgrades and Haptic Feedback adds more to the experience that's worth £10 to 'someone'.

For example, IF Arkham Knight had a free 60fps upgrade or a £10 60fps upgrade with Visual Quality boosts increasing texture quality, draw/LoD distance improvements, improvements to lighting, shadow, particles etc etc, I think I'd pay the £10. Its a game by game basis and whether its 'worth' the cost or not to 'ME'.

Fortunately, I own both a Series X and PS5 so I have that choice should it continue to keep happening. I don't own 'Wreckfest' (at least I don't think I do - unless its been free on PS+ or Gold), but if I wanted to play it, I would have a choice on which Platform and 'upgrade' path would be best for me.

@Medic_Alert Sony likes it because they get 30% of the cut. They are the ones who designed it in this manner which is crazy as they are supporting PS4 for what 3-4 years? Likely it's a calculated decision taking into account how many units shipped last gen and how many would eventually pay a small upgrade fee for some games when they transition to PS5. Just further solidifies my decision to go green this gen.

@Medic_Alert it's crap either way isn't it? They were incompetent to think of the complications and costs that would be thrust upon devs and owners or they calculated it and knew it would add to the bottom line.

Xbox just keeps making Playstation look like idiots..

@Medic_Alert lol i thought wreckfest was a new game! Like maybe a year old but didn't know it's from 2014.

I asked the publisher on Twitter and here's the exchange;

Me: "Can you explain why there is a free Series X/S upgrade patch but PS5 is getting charged for the upgrade due to having to make a native port due to how back compact works on that console?
Is PC and Xbox also going to get charged for this now as well?"

THQ Nordic: "Due to technical limitations, the 4K + 60FPS patch was only available for the Xbox-version of last gen Wreckfest.

The native current gen version will be paid on both consoles and includes more than just better resolution and higher FPS."

@blinx01 that means if i want 60fps of the game in Series S then i need to pay

It just dumb in the first place that they offer 4K30 instead and not 1080p60 like what the f...

So by the size of the thread it seems that Sony just gave more free marketing for Xbox as everyone is talking about the fee vs Xbox Free FPS upgrade. Phil n Co. definitely have owned all of the gaming discussion and mindshare all of March if not longer. They are doing some crazy stuff at the moment...all without any next gen games as it's constantly pointed out.

I think this comment section proves fanboys need to wait before they comment. Having both and Xbox and ps and having wreckfest on both... I don’t think “Xbox is making Sony look stupid” here at all. The game creators are stating “playstation will have the best version of the game” - which is not a great look for Xbox- now we have them saying Xbox will get this eventually.

Tbh it’s a nothing story and another game getting a paid upgrade on both. How Xbox FBs can spin every story to try and embarrass Sony owners is in itself the most embarrassing thing.... just enjoy the console you own... or have the best of both worlds... neither is perfect.

@Medic_Alert yeah I think Sony are top right now not because of exclusives per se but more that they have so many high quality games that people into gaming just can’t ignore. Myself included.
MS have loads of exclusives especially now they’re buying them up left right and centre but still doesn’t mean Sony’s games aren’t truly exceptional. And to play them you’ll need a PS4/5. In my eyes by buying as many companies as possible MS are trying to equally make themselves ‘unmissable’ for gaming fans. I don’t think it really matters who has better back compat set ups I don’t want to miss out on those high quality games.
It still baffles me reading comments that suggest only one console can be good when end of day they are both great value consoles with exceptional games that deserve to be played.
Now if MS bought out Santa Monica Games, Naughty Dog, guerilla games, insomniac and sucker punch then I wouldn’t need a PlayStation anymore!
Maybe knowing that has made Sony slack in some departments or possible knowing that has made MS step up to the table a bit more, especially focusing on the back comparability as an important part of the current gen consoles?

@stuie123 dude you only get 30fps on Series S atm, running at 4K though since it's basically enhanced BC. While on Series X the game runs at 4K and 60fps.

The publisher themselves won't do anything more about enhanced BC version of the game and you NEED the native Xbox Series version if you want 60fps Wreckfest experience on Series S.

Well. This is a sure fire way to have me uninstall it. Was really enjoying it, but if this is how they're playing it I'm fine just not playing it anymore. 🤷‍♂️

There is no way I'm encouraging this practice. Look at the mess buying DLC/loot boxes got us into, as customers we should have said 'no' at the beginning.

I'm personally not going to be paying an upgrade fee going forward.
Activision started it off, and now more publishers are pushing their luck. If people don't bat an eye lid, then it will become the norm, same with Sony trying to charge £70 for their games.