One cool feature of the PS5 is that it’s a standalone thing. Like PS4 before it, you can play on your last-gen console and your new one from the same account simultaneously.
So, what does this mean? If you have two PS4s in your house, you likely share your digital games with a kid or sibling. You do this by making your kid’s PS4 your primary console, and that allows them to access your library while signed in on a different account. You can still access your library while signed into your account from the secondary console, as long as you have access to the internet to verify your account.
It’s a way to share games in the same household, and that works the same on Xbox One if you have two of those in the same family. But what happens when you get a PS5 and you decide to pass your spare PS4 down to your other kid? So long as you don’t mind them playing from your PlayStation Network account, they can still access your games and it won’t kick them out when you boot up your account on PS5.
That means you can have two PS4s and one PS5 all accessing the same digital library. It’s a lifesaver. After all, you would be able to do this if your library were physical anyway. Those games are yours and you should be able to access them from any consoles you own.
Unfortunately, this isn’t how it works on Xbox Series X. I currently have an Xbox One and an Xbox One X in my house. The Xbox One uses family share to play my games, and I was hoping to give my other kid the Xbox One X so he can access the same games from my account. But as soon as you sign into the same account on Xbox Series X, it kicks my kid out. It’s a shame because Xbox’s mantra is about playing anywhere, accessibility, and value. This seems to go against that, and I hope Microsoft implements some kind of improved family sharing system for people with old models and new models in the same household.
If you’re wondering which console to get, we have a PS5 review, an Xbox Series X review, and an article weighing up whether the PS5 or Xbox Series X is better. Click those links for a read. We also have a review of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and an Astro’s Playroom review on the site. Happy reading!