A PS5 free upgrade for a former PS4 exclusive has been announced and it is coming later this summer, courtesy of Xbox. The PS4 game in question hails from 2017, and when it was released it was notably as a PS4 console exclusive. This means the only other platform it was available on was the PC, at least at first. The following year it shed its exclusivity and came to Xbox One. And then the year after this it came to Nintendo Switch 2, followed by Xbox Series X|S in 2021. Now, four years after its previous last release it is coming to PS5.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The game in question is Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, which is getting a PS5 version alongside the release of Senua’s Sage: Hellblade II on PS5 on August 12. It will be included in the more expensive $70 Deluxe Edition of Hellblade II on PS5, as well as be a free upgrade for those who own the PS4 version of the narrative-driven action-adventure game.
When Hellblade was released in 2017 it was when Ninja Theory, its developer, was still independent. Since then, Xbox has acquired the UK studio. And it was Xbox who published the sequel. Consequently, while Xbox did not publish the first game, when it acquired Ninja Theory it acquired the publishing rights of the first game with it. In other words, it is Xbox doing this favor for PS5 users by offering a free upgrade to those who own the game already on PS4.
“From the makers of Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and DmC: Devil May Cry, comes a warrior’s brutal journey into myth and madness,” reads an official description of the game on the PlayStation Stoew, for those unfamiliar with it. “Set in the Viking age, a broken Celtic warrior embarks on a haunting vision quest into Viking Hell to fight for the soul of her dead lover. Created in collaboration with neuroscientists and people who experience psychosis, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will pull you deep into the melancholic fury of Senua’s shattered mind.”
At the moment of publishing, it is unclear how Xbox and Ninja Theory plan to deliver this free upgrade to PS5 users, however, it is presumably going to be via a game update, as that is typically how these upgrades are handled. Meanwhile, the upgrade is expected to include enriched visuals and new features, not seen in the trailer above, which is the older PS4 version of the game.
This new version of Hellblade will be available to PS5 Pro users, but there is no word of it taking advantage of the PS5 Pro and offering any type of “enhancements.” It is not out of the realm of possibility though, as Xbox has supported the console in the past.
For more coverage on all things PlayStation 5 — including all of the latest PS5 news, all of the latest PS5 rumors and leaks, and all of the latest PS5 deals — click here.
