Clearing the confusing on Marvel’s Spider-Man Remaster
Ever since the PlayStation 5 showcase on September 16th, 2020, fans of Marvel’s Spider-Man have been wondering how to get the remastered version on the PS5.
Marvel’s Spider-Man released on the PlayStation 4 on September 7th, 2018 and quickly became one of the best PS4 games among fans and critics. In less than a year’s time, the title managed to sell over 13 million units worldwide, becoming the best selling Super Hero game of all time. The remaster of Marvel’s Spider-Man was revealed on a PlayStation blog post after the September 16th PS5 showcase. It’s part of the Ultimate Edition for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the next entry for Insomniac Games’ world of Spider-Man. This remaster is described as no simple up-res, intending on taking advantage of the PS5 hardware. The upgrades for this remaster include better looking character models, a new Peter Parker Model, improved animations, ray-tracing, 60fps frame rate, and near-instant load times. The remaster will also have new photo mode features, new suits, and new trophies to collect.
There has been a lot of talk on the internet whether you can upgrade to the remaster from your PS4 copy, if the remaster will see a separate release outside of the Ultimate Edition of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and save data being transferable.
Many are wondering if it’s possible to upgrade your PS4 copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man to the new remaster. The simple answer is no. Sony states the enhanced version of Marvel’s Spider-Man is included as part of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition for the PS5.
So does this mean it’s locked behind the Ultimate Edition of this new Miles Morales game? Yes. Sony currently has no plans to offer the remaster as a standalone. The PS4 version of Marvel’s Spider-Man will be backward compatible on the PlayStation 5, just without any of the new enhanced features the remaster has. Fans who want to experience the remaster have to purchase the Ultimate Edition of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Okay well, if fans can’t get the free upgrade or purchase the remaster by itself, can they at least transfer their PS4 saves to the PS5 version? No. Insomniac Games confirmed saves won’t transfer from the original game to the remaster on Twitter. This confirmation might sound frustrating to some who want to pick up where they last left off on the PS4 version but it looks like that won’t be possible moving to the next generation.
My Take
From what it looks like, this remastered version of Marvel’s Spider-Man is being treated as a separate game and not as just a PS5 upgrade. Some of the PS5 launch titles are getting free upgrades from their PS4 counterparts, including Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Insomniac Games in the PS Blog post already stated the amount of upgrades and enhancements being made for this remaster, offering a free upgrade for a game that already sold over 13 million units would be too generous. Also, this whole idea of being entitled to free upgrades needs to stop. Free upgrades in general only started becoming a thing during the transition for this upcoming generation. There was no free next-gen upgrade for games going from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4. Please just be thankful next-gen upgrades are being offered to begin with.
The remaster currently being locked behind the Ultimate Edition of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a bit weird since Sony could just offer it as a standalone for $19.99 but it makes sense from a business perspective. Because Marvel’s Spider-Man has already sold millions of copies, Sony doesn’t need to sell this remaster as a standalone. They already cashed out on that game, Sony wouldn’t benefit from releasing it as a standalone. By forcing players to purchase the Ultimate Edition, they not only give them the remastered version of Marvel’s Spider-Man, Sony also guarantees a sale for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. I’m sure we’ll see a standalone release of this remaster at some point in the future, whether it would be digitally on the PlayStation Store and/or a physical release. Sony right now want to ensure the Miles Morales game sells as many copies as possible, despite this game being the flagship PS5 launch title.
Saves not being transferable is understandable since this isn’t just a port of the PS4 version but an actual remaster for newer hardware. A completely separate game from its original. If they’re not offering a free upgrade, then saves being non-transferable makes sense. The game is over two years old at this point, if you still haven’t finished the original PS4 version, you probably weren’t going to finish it any time soon. In addition, remasters having transferable is a rare case, most remasters don’t offer it so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise for Marvel’s Spider-Man to not offer it.
The remaster of Marvel’s Spider-Man is set to launch along side Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition on November 12th, 2020 for the PlayStation 5 at $69.99.
Travis “tvsonic” Vuong
Business e-mail: travisvuong56@gmail.com
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