Sony announced pre-order details for "Horizon Forbidden West" last week, which immediately caused a backlash when it was revealed that buyers of the standard PS4 version would not receive a free upgrade to the PS5 version. This decision was abruptly reversed over the weekend.

The PlayStation blog post detailing the pre-order information has now been updated with the happy news that "players who purchased Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 4 can upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free." The article is posted on the website. However, the statement also contains less welcome news.

PlayStation head Jim Ryan said that going forward, "PlayStation's first-party exclusive cross-gent titles (new titles released on PS4 and PS5) will be available in both digital and physical versions with a $10 digital upgrade option". This fee will apply to both "God of War" and "Gran Turismo 7," which are currently scheduled for release in 2022.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the news has not been received very favorably on the Internet: compared to the Xbox Series X and its Smart Delivery system (which essentially offers players next-generation console upgrades at no additional charge), "Horizon Forbidden West, Sony's decision to charge an upgrade fee for every exclusive title after Forbidden West has been labeled by some as greedy and anti-consumer.

But from what I can see, this is another case of the Internet making a big deal about something quite reasonable. I don't care if the PS5 upgrade fee for future console exclusives is $10. Before I furiously comment on how wrong I am, let me explain my reasoning.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Of course, in an ideal world, my hope is that Sony continues to offer free upgrades.

It would be nice to see those who purchased Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 be able to upgrade to the PS5 version at no additional cost. Purchasing the last-gen version of "Forbidden West" would be a smart way to get the next-gen version for less, especially since the retail price of the PS4 game is still $60, while the PS5 game is $70.

However, I don't think the $10 upgrade fee is particularly egregious. Last month, Sony wrote, "Ghost of Tsushima: I argued that the $10 upgrade fee is a fair price and people should stop complaining about it. This is an opinion I support.

If the next "God of War" or "Gran Turismo 7" offers a significantly enhanced experience on PS5 compared to PS4, I don't see why paying a relatively small amount of money for it is unfair. Paying extra for a premium version of a product can be found in everything from smartphones to streaming services.

Perhaps my acceptance of the PS5 upgrade fee stems from the fact that I am an avid Blu-ray collector. For physical movies, DVD, the least premium format, is always cheaper than something as premium as Blu-ray or 4K UHD.

I have no problem paying $10-15 extra for a movie on Blu-ray as opposed to buying a movie on DVD. In that situation, I am paying extra to get the movie at a higher quality, and it may come with a couple of special extras. To me, it is comparable to paying a little more to get a game with a better frame rate, faster loading times, and proper dual-sense functionality. [Gamers have become accustomed to Sony offering free upgrades thanks to titles like "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" and "Sackboy: A Big Adventure": among others. gamers have grown accustomed to Sony offering upgrades to PS5 at no extra charge, especially thanks to titles like "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" and "Sackboy: A Big Adventure". But if you want the best version of a product, sometimes you have to pay a little extra.

When the next "God of War" finally comes out in 2022 (hopefully not too late), I will have no problem paying that extra $10 if the overall playing experience is better.