In an interview with Game Impress Watch (translated by Kotaku), Masayasu Ito, an Executive VP at Sony Interactive Entertainment, suggested forward compatibility patches for PlayStation 4 games on PS4 Pro would cost money. When asked if 4K HDR updates for existing games would cost money, he replied, “It will be different for each title. I believe it will depend on the thinking of each licensee,” he said, referring to third-party publishers. For Sony, he said, “I think it will vary for each one of our titles,” later confirming that some updates will be free, while others would cost money.
Following this interview, Sony sent a statement to Kotaku saying, “We will not charge consumers for patches.”
It remains to be seen if third-party developers and publishers will charge for PS4 Pro compatibility patches, but according to Absinthe Games Founder Jack Sipich, developers “are not allowed to charge you for patches or [PS4 Pro] feature updates.”
“The ‘fees’ include anything we have to swallow to update our past games for you,” Sipich added in his NeoGAF comment. “The internet can calm down. There is nothing we can do to leverage Pro features or patches with price. Nothing.”
As for whether or not Sony will charge extra for future games that are enhanced for PS4 Pro out of the box, like Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayStation UK’s Hollie Bennett said, “From PlayStation’s own games, no, there will be no price change. But they obviously can’t comment on third-party. But, right now, no, there will be no price difference because of the PlayStation 4 Pro.”
A Sony rep also confirmed to Polygon that all first-party PS4 games coming in 2017 or later will support the PS4 Pro. On top of this, games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Gays Gone, Detroit: Become Human, and Spider-Man PS4 will also support HDR.
[Source: Game Impress Watch, Kotaku, Polygon, PlayStation Access, NeoGAF]
