FF7 Remake: Square Enix changing odd PS5 upgrade rules for PS Plus owners

Earlier this year, the PS4 version of Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Remake was available for a month through PS Plus. It's one of the biggest games we've seen available through the service this year and was the perfect time for a lot of new players to jump into the series head-first.

Unusually, PlayStation limited who could access the free PS5 upgrade for the FF7 Remake. If you bought it, you could get the PS5 version of the title for free. If you claimed the game through PlayStation's PS Plus service, you had to pay for it. As you can imagine, a lot of PS5 owners weren't happy about this. It's understandable to charge for the INTEGRADE upgrade - as that contains quite a lot of new content and gameplay features - but charging for the PS5 upgrade too? A lot of titles offer this as a free update and it left a sour taste in a lot of players mouths.

Unexpectedly, it looks like Square Enix is updating their upgrade permissions just in time for Christmas...

FF7 Remake PS5 upgrade coming for PS Plus players!

If you've been waiting to jump into Midgar on your next-gen console, you're in luck!

If you own the FF7 Remake via PS Plus, you will be able to access the free PS5 upgrade for the title from Wednesday - December 22nd. The Episode Intermission DLC - featuring Yuffie - is also going to be available at a 25% discount for a limited time.

This change comes days after Final Fantasy 7 Remake INTEGRADE was released on the Epic Games Store and shortly after the news that Final Fantasy XIV's Endwalker expansion was so successful that Square Enix had to actually stop people selling it for a short period.

We don't know the reasoning behind this change, but we don't think it's just because Square Enix is feeling festive. This could be a marketing ploy to get people replaying the FF7 Remake ahead of an announcement about Part Two. Alternatively, it could be in response to the recent backlash PlayStation faced for releasing Godfall Challenger Edition through PS Plus and not the full version of Godfall - a game that notably struggled to retain a strong player base post-launch.

We know that all sounds a little cynical, but there has to be a reason to make this change so long after the initial outburst from PS Plus players hoping to jump into the FF7 Remake on their PS5 consoles.