Darksiders: Warmastered Edition Is A $10 Upgrade On PS5

Sixteen years after it first released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and 10 years after an upgraded version released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the original Darksiders is now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S via the Warmastered Edition.

Except, there's one little caveat.

It's a paid upgrade for PS4 users wishing to get the PS5 version, but free for Xbox One users. Specifically, a $10 upgrade.

Owners of the PlayStation 4 version of Darksiders Warmastered Edition can upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for €9.99 / $9.99. Players who own the Xbox One version will receive the upgrade to the Xbox Series X/S version free of charge.

With the launch on current-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X/S version will be available for €29.99 / $29.99, while the Xbox One version price will increase from €19.99 / $$19.99 to €29.99 / $29.99.

The PlayStation 4 version will remain available for €19.99 / $19.99, while the PlayStation 5 version launches at €29.99 / $29.99.

That's according to a press release from THQ Nordic.

The "Next-Gen" Version Of Darksiders Isn't Really All That Next-Gen

It's a rather odd situation confounded by the fact that the "upgrade" really isn't all that massive to justify a $10 fee. The official PlayStation Store listing notes that these are the following features on the current-gen:

Native 4K Rendering (on PS5)
Smooth and stable 60 FPS gameplay
Photo Mode (on PS5)
DualSense® and Activities support (on PS5)

Darksiders 4 trailer showing War riding on horseback, using chains as a rein.

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By James Lucas

Those are pretty standard upgrades that have historically been made free for existing owners via regular title updates. Paid upgrades have usually involved extra DLC or other additives that would justify the upgrade fee.

For their part, the folks at Push Square reached out to THQ Nordic for some type of explanation of the whole debacle. THQ Nordic said it had "no comment" on the situation.

In the end, though the PS4 edition may not be increasing in price, but it doesn't explain exactly why those who supported the game years ago are being charged $10 to have the newest edition of the same title.