Sony makes it easier to play the PlayStation 5 version of games

Sony and Microsoft both launched their latest generation of consoles last month, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, both featuring backward compatibility with the previous generation of consoles. However, while Microsoft made it easy for users to get the right version of the game automatically thanks to Smart Delivery, getting the PlayStation 5 version of a cross-generation game could require the user to jump through some hoops.

Now, Sony has apparently released an update for the PlayStation 5 that makes things at least a little bit easier, as spotted by Twitter user Tidux. While you still won't be getting the PlayStation 5 version of a game automatically, if you happen to have the PlayStation 4 versions installed, the system will let you know before launching the game and give you the option to launch the current-generation version instead.

The PlayStation 5's approach didn't make much of a difference if you were just buying or downloading a new PlayStation 5 game, but if you owned the PlayStation 4 version of a game and it got an update to support the PlayStation 5, it would be harder to get the new version. As more games get next-generation updates in the next few months, this update should make that process easier for users to get the better version of those games.

As mentioned above, Microsoft's Xbox consoles make things a lot easier, with Smart Delivery making sure users get the right package designed for their hardware right out of the gate, though third-party developers do have to opt into using it.