Does the PS5 Upscale PS4 Games Automatically?

PS5 brings with it many new innovations but at the same time leaves many of us pondering some burning questions. One such question is: does the PS5 upscale PS4 games automatically?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no. Whether a PS4 game can upscale on PS5 or not depends upon whether the developer has released a specific upscaling patch for the game or not.

Upscaling is the process of taking lower-resolution content and then boosting it to a higher resolution. This results in extra pixels added to the overall image making it smoother and more detailed.

We know that PS5 is designed to easily work at native 4K resolution on many titles thanks to the higher number of Teraflops it boasts compared to older consoles.

But if you are expecting to enjoy your older PS4 games at the all-new 4K glory of PS5 automatically, then you can be left disappointed.

PS5 and the Game Boost Feature

The feature responsible for upscaling the graphics on PS5 is known as Game Boost.

PS5 Game Boost is a feature that is akin to a secret sauce, capable of turbocharging select PS4 games to perform even better on the PS5.

But what does this Game Boost sorcery entail? Well, in simple terms, it can unlock higher frame rates, smoother gameplay, and, yes, even upscaling for some PS4 titles.

So enhancement for PS4 games on PS5 is not just limited to higher resolution but also entails higher frame rates.

BUT, there is a CATCH!

Not every PS4 game will benefit from these enhancements. It is ultimately up to the developers to decide whether they want to sprinkle some of that next-gen garnish on their creations by releasing next-gen patches.

So Does the PS5 Upscale PS4 Games Automatically?

No. it does NOT.

In fact, this was the case even for the PS4 Pro. When the PlayStation 4 Pro was released, it came with much better hardware capable of even running games at 4K or at a higher than 30 frame rate (as compared to the original PS4).

This allowed the developers to release patches often known as “PS4 Pro Enhanced” updates which allowed the games to take benefit of the newer hardware.

However, these were NOT automatically available for all original PS4 games. Developers had to create and release these updates specifically for their games, optimizing them to utilize the extra processing power and graphical capabilities of the PS4 Pro

The same is the case for the PS5 Game Boost feature.

While PS5 is certainly backward compatible with a majority of the PS4 games. However, PS4 games DO NOT automatically take benefit of the improved hardware on PS5.

Take Bloodborne for example. 

Bloodborne is Capped at 30 FPS and FHD even on PS5.

This game was released with the original PS4 and hence it was capped at 30 FPS at the time meeting the original PS4’s standards. It never got an official patch for PS4 Pro and while it can work on PS5 as well, it’ll still be capped at the original PS4’s 30 FPS cap.

List of Games that Use the PS5’s Game Boost Feature

The following is a list of some of the popular games that utilize the PS5’s Game Boost Feature.

Note that the following games are the backward-compatible PS4 games available for PS5.

This isn’t a complete list.

Note that the visual enhancement of the game boost technology is NOT just limited to upscaling of the resolution. Many games experience a boost in frame rate only.

The vast majority, however, experience a boost in both resolution and frame rate.