5 Disadvantages Of Buying A PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 is a powerful console with a large library of games, and one of the best places to play the highly-regarded Sony first-party exclusives. On top of the backward compatibility with PS4, it's 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 load 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 drawbacks, especially when a used PS4 is still a viable option.

For the drawbacks of the PS5, you're looking at fewer first-party exclusives when compared to the PS4, a lack of first-party titles for PlayStation VR2, the inability to use the DualShock 4 with PS5 games, subpar backward compatibility, and no day-one release on PlayStation Plus. If the disadvantages aren't particularly deal-breakers for you, be sure to purchase the PS5 Disc Edition. Sure, you'll be paying an extra $50, but the disc drive will eventually pay for itself.

Sony's first-party exclusives are what make any PlayStation console worth owning. Sadly, those have been lacking in the PS5 generation compared to previous ones that came before. A major reason for this is that developers are taking longer to make games. For instance, we're heading toward the six-year mark of the PS5 generation, and Naughty Dog has yet to release a new game that isn't a remaster or remake. It took Guerrilla Games of "Killzone" fame five years to release "Horizon Forbidden West" after "Horizon Zero Dawn" was a major hit on the PS4 in 2017. Insomniac Games announced "Wolverine" on 9 September 2021, and now that game is coming out on 15 September 2026 (five years later).

Another reason the first-party output has been struggling is that Sony 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 some point, and most of these were cancelled. Not to mention that Sony sunsetted "Concord," a live service game that was in development for eight years, two weeks after its release. Furthermore, Bungie's "Marathon" didn't achieve the expected player counts, leading to massive layoffs. The live service push is a gamble that hasn't paid off for Sony in the way it hoped, but it has seen some success with titles like "Helldivers 2" and "Gran Turismo 7."

While the PlayStation VR2 boasts an impressive VR experience, the biggest problem comes down to the lack of flagship titles that would make it worth owning for VR fans. When it came out on 22 February 2023, it outsold the PlayStation VR and launched with the flagship title "Horizon: Call of the Mountain." It would have been better if Sony had kept the momentum going with titles from its other IPs, especially "Astro Bot," "The Last of Us," "Spider-Man," and "God of War," but that hasn't happened yet. The PlayStation VR2 still has hundreds of third-party titles, including "Resident Evil 4" and "No Man's Sky."

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

Sony should be building highly-immersive and fun games with the PlayStation's VR2 technology, but the silence seems to indicate that it might not be a priority.

If you previously owned a PS4, you might still have your DualShock 4 (DS4) controller. It can function as an extra controller for local multiplayer games or a spare when the DualSense experiences drift. Also, 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 the PS5 through backward-compatible titles, they're not forward-compatible with native PS5 games.

The official reason from Sony is that it wants PS5 games to take advantage of advanced technology, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, on PS5 controllers like the DualSense. Also, Sony didn't want to force game developers to optimize them for a two-controller setup, which could not only add to development time and costs, but could fragment the PS5 experience.

Also, some people just prefer the DS4 over the DualSense, especially when it comes to ergonomics. The DualSense is chunkier, which can be hard for someone with smaller hands to hold, especially when they need to use the claw grip in demanding games.

Physical and digital PS4 games work on the PS5, and some of them even have enhanced frame rates and graphics because the consoles share similar architecture. That's not the case with PS1, PS2, and PS3 discs, as these won't work because the PS5 doesn't have the necessary hardware to run them natively from a disc. Select digital games from these generations can be found on the system, though, through remasters, ports, emulation, and streaming, but Microsoft handled backward compatibility way better, even though it's still limited.

The Xbox Series X can run physical discs dating all the way back to the first-generation Xbox. For instance, you can play the entire "Max Payne" trilogy on the Xbox Series X if you have the discs, while the PS5 only has a PS4 version that runs via emulation. Some original Xbox games, such as "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic," even have framerate and graphical boosts that make them play and look even better, even though they were released over 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're fond of revisiting older games, the PS5 just doesn't cut it in that department.

Over the years, the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, which is available on PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers, has become a good contender for Game Pass's library. You will find high-quality games from various publishers, including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, and Square Enix. If you are on the Premium tier, you have access to the Classic Catalog with select PS1 and PS2 games you can download and play, as well as PS3 games you can stream only. The best part is that Sony even adds its first-party games there, too. The biggest downside is that it's not on day one.

Sure, you will find "God of War: Ragnarok," "Spider-Man 2," and "Horizon Forbidden West" on the list, but these were added years after release. If you want to play them sooner, you have to pay $70. Microsoft, on the other hand, adds almost all of its first-party games to the Ultimate tier on release day. The only exception is "Call of Duty" games, which were removed from the list of day-one releases after Microsoft dropped the price of Game Pass Ultimate in April 2026. These will come to the service about 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 the full price.