The Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut PS5 Upgrade Isn’t Fair For Existing Owners

Ghost of Tsushima will be getting a director’s cut which includes a brand new region, the island of Iki which is bundled with a brand new story and adventure for Jin. This will be available for both the Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.

Whilst both consoles will be getting new features like a lock-on camera, and other gameplay improvements, the Playstation 5 version will be getting haptic and 3D audio support, to offer the best experience on the hardware possible.

The bad news is that those who own the game on Playstation 4, will have to pay a hefty $30 to get the Playstation 5 version. This is especially disappointing when you realise that people who bought the special/regular edition at launch for £60 will most likely end up paying up to £90 just to get the upgraded version at the end (£60 spent at launch + £30 spent on upgrade).

What makes this a bit more confusing is the fact that upgrade to the PS4 version is cheaper at $20, so you are essentially paying $10 for haptic support and better performance, something that other games like Doom Eternal have done completely free, giving you not only ray-tracing but also better performance modes.

The main issue I have with this is that it seemingly penalises players who decided to support the game at launch, especially those that got the special edition. Of course, there is a point to be made about buying games on launch, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing.

I don’t think it should be completely free as this new content did require extra work, but if you are essentially getting an expansion, it should be priced as such. It would make more sense for it to be $20 across the board than having two different prices.

I am sure if game expansions like Blood and Wine or Frozen Wilds can launch for $20, something like this can too. Not to mention, Playstation 5 doesn’t have the best reputation for seamless upgrades, but that’s an issue for another day.

Now, this isn’t unique to Ghost of Tsushima or Sony, with games like Control having done worse, but it sets a precedent for getting games at launch in the future. Whilst, I agree that it’s a good idea to wait for discounts and not get games on release, the launch window can be a make or break period for the studio and there is nothing wrong with wanting to play games on launch to help support the studio.

We can only hope that these practices will get better in the future, but studios need to start taking better care of their existing customers (in a reasonable manner of course).

The director’s cut will be available on the 20th of August, and you can check out the full details of the announcement here.