5 Cons of Buying a PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 is a powerful console with a vast library of games and one of the best places to play Sony’s much-loved first-party exclusives. In addition to backwards compatibility with PS4, it is capable of running games at 4K resolution and 60 FPS (some games can reach up to 120 FPS). The DualSense controller has advanced features, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, and the console has fast loading times thanks to its SSD. The problem is that the PS5 is quite expensive, starting at $599 for the Digital Edition, so it’s worth knowing the downsides, especially when a used PS4 is still a viable option.

For the downsides of the PS5, you’re looking at fewer first-party exclusives compared to the PS4, a lack of first-party titles for PlayStation VR2, inability to use the DualShock 4 with PS5 games, sub-par backwards compatibility, and no day one release on PlayStation Plus. If the downsides aren’t particularly prohibitive for you, be sure to buy the PS5 Disc Edition. Sure, you’ll pay $50 more, but the disk drive will pay for itself in the end.

Sony’s exclusive exclusives are what make any PlayStation console worth owning. Unfortunately, these are lacking in the PS5 generation compared to previous ones. One of the main reasons for this is that developers take longer to create games. For example, we’re heading into the six-year anniversary of the PS5 generation, and Naughty Dog has yet to release a new game that’s neither a remaster nor a remake. It took Guerrilla Games of “Killzone” fame five years to release “Horizon Forbidden West” after “Horizon Zero Dawn” was a major hit on PS4 in 2017. Insomniac Games announced “Wolverine” on September 9, 2021, and now this game will be released on September 15, 2026 (five years later).

Another reason first-party production has struggled is because Sony has invested heavily in live services for its games. Major IPs, including “Spider-Man,” “God of War,” “Horizon” and “The Last of Us,” had live service games in development at one point, and most of them were canceled. Not to mention, Sony abandoned “Concord,” a live-action game in development for eight years, two weeks after its release. Additionally, Bungie’s “Marathon” failed to reach the expected number of players, leading to massive layoffs. The live service push is a gamble that hasn’t paid off for Sony as it hoped, but it has seen some success with titles like “Helldivers 2” and “Gran Turismo 7.”

Although the PlayStation VR2 offers an impressive VR experience, the biggest problem lies in the lack of flagship titles that are worth it for VR fans. When released on February 22, 2023, it outsold PlayStation VR and launched with the flagship title “Horizon: Call of the Mountain”. It would have been better for Sony to continue its momentum with titles from its other licenses, including “Astro Bot”, “The Last of Us”, “Spider-Man” and “God of War”, but that has not happened yet. PlayStation VR2 still offers hundreds of third-party titles, including “Resident Evil 4” and “No Man’s Sky.”

The PlayStation VR2 is a massive upgrade over the PlayStation VR, with better visuals thanks to its OLED screen with a resolution of 4000 x 2040 and a resolution per eye of 2000 x 2040. Motion tracking is also accurate, thanks to the four cameras and six sensors built right into the unit, doing a good job of translating physical and eye movements into the virtual world. In contrast, PlayStation VR has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, with a resolution per eye of 960 x 1080, which makes some textures blurry. This requires an external camera that uses finicky light-based tracking.

Sony is expected to create highly immersive and fun games with the PlayStation’s VR2 technology, but the silence seems to indicate that this may not be a priority.

If you previously owned a PS4, you may still own your DualShock 4 (DS4) controller. It can function as an additional controller for local multiplayer games or as a spare when the DualSense experiences drift. Additionally, some controller brands like Razer have released competitive PS4 controllers that people still hold in high regard. While you can use these controllers to play PS4 games on PS5 via backwards compatible titles, they are not backwards compatible with native PS5 games.

Sony’s official reason is that it wants PS5 games to take advantage of advanced technologies, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, on PS5 controllers like the DualSense. Additionally, Sony didn’t want to force game developers to optimize them for a dual-controller setup, which could not only increase development time and costs but also fragment the PS5 experience.

Additionally, some people simply prefer the DS4 to the DualSense, especially when it comes to ergonomics. The DualSense is larger, which can be difficult for someone with smaller hands to hold, especially when having to use the claw grip in demanding games.

Both physical and digital PS4 games run on the PS5, and some of them even have improved frame rates and graphics because the consoles share a similar architecture. This is not the case for the PS1, PS2, and PS3 discs, as those will not work because the PS5 does not have the hardware to run them natively from a disc. Some digital games from these generations can be found on the system, however, through remasters, ports, emulations and streaming, but Microsoft has handled backwards compatibility much better, even if it is still limited.

The Xbox Series X can run physical discs dating back to the first generation Xbox. For example, you can play the entire “Max Payne” trilogy on the Xbox Series X if you have the discs, whereas the PS5 only has a PS4 version that works via emulation. Some original Xbox games, such as “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic,” even have framerate and graphics improvements that make them even more playable and beautiful, even though they were released more than 20 years ago. You can check the Xbox Backward Compatibility List to see which games work on the Xbox Series X, but in total there are hundreds of titles from the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One generations. So if you like to revisit older games, the PS5 doesn’t cut it in that department.

Over the years, the PlayStation Plus game catalog, available on PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers, has become a good competitor for the Game Pass library. You’ll find high-quality games from a variety of publishers, including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, and Square Enix. If you’re on the Premium tier, you have access to the classic catalog with a selection of PS1 and PS2 games that you can download and play, as well as PS3 games that you can stream only. The best part is that Sony even adds its first-party games to it. The biggest downside is that it’s not the first day.

Sure, you’ll find “God of War: Ragnarok,” “Spider-Man 2,” and “Horizon Forbidden West” on the list, but those were added years after their release. If you want to play it earlier, you have to pay $70. Microsoft, for its part, adds almost all of its first-party games to the Ultimate level on the day of its release. The only exception is the “Call of Duty” games, which were removed from the day one release list after Microsoft lowered the price of Game Pass Ultimate in April 2026. These will go live approximately a year after launch. But if “Fallout 5” and “The Elder Scrolls 6” ever come out, Game Pass subscribers will be able to play them immediately without paying full price.