How to Upgrade PS3 Games to PS4 Versions

How To
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Just picked up a PlayStation 4? If so, you may want to play old PlayStation 3 games on it. Here's how to bring select PS3 games into the next generation.

If you bought games like "Call of Duty: Ghosts" or "Assassin's Creed IV" for your PS3 and plan on picking up Sony's new PS4, you won't have to purchase the title all over again to experience the next-gen version.

Thanks to Sony's new PS3 to PS4 program, you can upgrade select PS3 games to a PS4 version for just $10. Here's how to take advantage of the promotion, which lasts until early next year.

1. Make sure you own either the Blu-ray disc or digital download of the PS3 game you'd like to upgrade. If you're upgrading an eligible disc, you'll have to redeem the included voucher code in the PlayStation Store on your PS3 beforehand. 

2. From the PS4 home screen, scroll up and select PlayStation Store.

3. Scroll down and select "PS3 to PS4."

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4. Select your game of choice. Currently, you can upgrade "Assassin's Creed IV," "Battlefield 4," "Injustice: Ultimate Edition," and "Call of Duty: Ghosts."

5. Select Purchase to upgrade your game for $10.

6. Insert the original PS3 disc to begin playing the PS4 upgrade version.

Sony's PS3 to PS4 promotion is running for a limited time for certain games. You have until Jan. 31, 2014 to upgrade "Assassin's Creed IV," Mar. 28, 2014 for "Battlefield 4," and Mar. 31, 2014 for "Call of Duty: Ghosts." As of this writing, neither Sony or WB Games have announced an expiration date for upgrading “Injustice.”

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Michael Andronico
Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.

30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mouse24
    Thats pretty cool. I have to admit.
    Reply
  • pastydavid
    I like this too. Although, I will most likely buy the One. I just bouth Ghosts digital download for Xbox 360/One for only $10 more. This lets me play with all my friends who don't buy the One and then play on the One when I'm by myself.
    Reply
  • iamadev
    I too am more likely to get a One but that is a great feature, shame it is time limited though. I would imagine there will be lots of people wanting to port their old game collection over to the new consoles.

    The shame in all of this is that it is likely for selected titles and a short period only. A permanent fixture like this for all or most titles would be a huge feather in the cap of either PS4 or XB1
    Reply
  • dimar
    Many games could fit on a 50GB blu-ray disk of both PS3 and PS4 versions. I wonder if Sony considered that?
    Reply
  • NuclearShadow
    I have to say that I am against it, the reason why is because not this makes a profit motive to not include backwards compatibility with previous consoles which of course this generation of consoles now completely lacks. Why would the console manufacturers ever consider bringing such a feature back if they and the game publishers can make more by re-selling the same games this way?
    Reply
  • rohitbaran
    @NuclearShadow
    They lack backward compatibility because the architectures are very different. It is a good thing they are allowing $10 upgrades only rather than buying full games again. If there was a simple porting system from previous to current gen, the upgrade would still require some investment from a developer I think, so even then a price for it would be justified. In this case, the game development would be totally different, so it is only fair to charge a small amount.
    Reply
  • Darkk
    He is correct on lack of backwards compatibility. Since the new console is based on x86 architecture it'll be alot easier to program so $10 is reasonable cost for upgrade.
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    So once the user puts the original disk in the PS4, the PS4 downloads the x86 version from the internet?
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    I wonder what the difference is between the "Upgraded" version and the PS4 version.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    Microsoft should offer free upgrades of digital only titles, with no time limit, that should give them a healthy boost
    Reply