In the face of the new generation, one might think that the ways to get the improved version of physical games were going to be simple. You put disc and downloads if it is free, Or maybe you pay a little extra in the digital store to get it. With the presentation of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War yesterday, Activision has confirmed the editions of its game with different purchase options, including a digital ” cross-gen ” pack that, for 10 euros more, guarantees you the current version of the game. game and that of PS5 or Xbox Series X, depending on the platform. With physical issues, the reality is more complex.
According to both the Activision blog and the official Microsoft website, those who purchase the physical Standard Edition of Black Ops Cold War on Xbox One will not be eligible for the Xbox Series X upgrade: “Players will not have the ability to upgrade the Physical Standard Edition of Xbox One to the experience of Xbox Series X “, they point out on the Xbox website. Although the title will be playable with a disc through backward compatibility, this path will not offer the technical improvements of the game on the next-generation console. And now comes the mess.
The standard version of Xbox Series X in a physical form obviously includes the next-gen version, but it does allow it to be played on Xbox One, the reverse of what players might expect. On the other hand, and according to the Activision page, the Physical Standard Edition of PS4 does just the opposite to Xbox: it allows you to obtain an improvement on PS5 with the disc, paying an extra 10 dollars to obtain it, but its physical version of PS5 does not offer a copy for the previous generation. The reasons behind the decision are not clear, but the truth is that it does not seem as intuitive as it could be.
Of course, digital editions don’t run into this problem. According to Activision, the digital Standard Edition will offer the upgrade on both consoles for an additional fee. And of course, the higher editions include the upgrade as one of their extras, with a Cross-gen Edition of 69 euros, the standard price for a Triple-A, and an Ultimate Edition that guarantees the same, but with more extras and additions.
