PS5 Are the Deluxe/Founders Upgrades only available for Digital Purchases?

[InsidiousMage]

I bought the deluxe, physical edition of Civ7 but apparently you can only buy the upgrades if you own the digital edition on PS5. This was not mentioned in the FAQ on the Civ site and was wondering if this is an error or not.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

@FXS_Sar - are you able to look into this please?

 

[Jonuffy]

I have this problem too. I bought the deluxe edition disc thinking I could upgrade to founders later. Being a Civ fan I was looking forward to getting all DLC's and the complete game but have been disappointed to not be able to upgrade to the founders edition. Instead when I go into the PSN store here in the UK, first the Deluxe to Founders edition upgrade says "Unavailable" and once inside that page the what would be "Buy" button says "Learn More". If you then click that the reply is " You Can't buy this product for the following reasons: You need the following products before you can make a purchase: Sid Meier's Civilization VII Deluxe Edition.
This is with both the PSN Store and from within game with the disc in the PS5 Console. I got the deluxe edition from Amazon on the 8th February. Have checked this after the Early Access period and just now. If this was never meant to be available for disc owners why wasn't this clearly stated in the FAQS on the Civ 7 website as the OP states? If it is an error in the set up please let us know and if that's the case will it be fixed before the 28th of February when the exclusive Founders Edition disappears? If this ends up being not available I won't bother with future DLC. Being discriminated for being a physical disc owner on a console that comes with a disc drive is out of order and I'm sure others in a similar situation would agree. We are literally throwing money at you because we love the game but it seems you don't want to take it.

 

[InsidiousMage]

And it turns out that the upgrades are only available for the digital edition, not physical. Certainly not spending any more money on Civ7 and I'll probably just stop playing the game after I finish what I've already started. Kind of hard to not feel like this is some bizarre scam to get people to double buy the game since, to me anyway, "purchase" and "upgrade" are two different things and if you can only upgrade the digital editions that should be plainly stated.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Kind of hard to not feel like this is some bizarre scam to get people to double buy the game since, to me anyway, "purchase" and "upgrade" are two different things and if you can only upgrade the digital editions that should be plainly stated.

I doubt it's a scam but it's pretty bad and I agree the limitations should have been clearly stated.

 

[Jonuffy]

And it turns out that the upgrades are only available for the digital edition, not physical. Certainly not spending any more money on Civ7 and I'll probably just stop playing the game after I finish what I've already started. Kind of hard to not feel like this is some bizarre scam to get people to double buy the game since, to me anyway, "purchase" and "upgrade" are two different things and if you can only upgrade the digital editions that should be plainly stated.

Are you sure this is the case? Where did you find this out? Either way the whole thing is a definite ****show. The whole model is a disaster and just alienating fans. As stated before there will be no more expenses and this physical copy is already lined up for a return to amazon should the founders edition window pass. I dont support any company that treats its customers like this. The reason I ask is because there is a thread on civ 7's 2k support page where they say this issue is being addressed. https://support.civilization.com/hc...-PlayStation-Store-When-Using-a-Physical-Disk

 

[StargazingDog]

Has this been confirmed on Xbox/Switch?

PSN has some bizarre engineering behind their SKUs. There are several examples of Xbox handling situations such as this with no issue, while PlayStation cannot. Smart Delivery is one thing Xbox got right.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Are you sure this is the case?

I filed a bug report with Firaxis/2K and got this reply two days ago.

 

[Jonuffy]

Did you reply back that this wasn't stated on their own Faqs page? Or why it is that Physical is treated differently to digital? Not moaning at you of course....we are in the same boat but I find this whole situation unacceptable. I can't support this digital changeover on this console when they provide a disc drive on it. If founders disappears after 28th and I can't purchase then I disappear too from 2k for sure as their practices stink.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Did you reply back that this wasn't stated on their own Faqs page? Or why it is that Physical is treated differently to digital?

Yeah, but they basically said there isn't anything they, as an individual, could do about it. If Firaxis is aware of the issue with the physical discs but this is still the reply I got then I'm still not going buy the upgrade or keep playing the game. This is unacceptable behavior from a company the size of Firaxis.

 

[Jonuffy]

Yeah, but they basically said there isn't anything they, as an individual, could do about it. If Firaxis is aware of the issue with the physical discs but this is still the reply I got then I'm still not going buy the upgrade or keep playing the game. This is unacceptable behavior from a company the size of Firaxis.

Well i agree wholeheartedly. You have to make a stand against these practices. The left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing. "Future update" isn't a great response either from 2k support. No timeline to let us know if its before or after founders disappearing. Like you say best to just not bother.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

According to the bug report:-

This is currently planned to be addressed in a future update.

So hopefully they will sort it.

 

[Shinouta]

The whole situation sucks. I bought a Xbox physical disk standard edition because the f.a.q. said I could upgrade and Founders isn't physical. If I check the Xbox store, I cannnot find any upgrade pack. My in game menus tell me that I can upgrade but it's not the case. 2K support told me that it's an Xbox store issue. Xbox support is null. I have no issues buying digital but I favor physical when possible. Now I'm locked out of not just Founders as I was planning to upgrade but also from Deluxe. Even if it's fixed in an update, will it make it on time to buy Founders?

On the good side, I'm enjoying the game. On the bad side, that enjoyment is being tarnished by outside events.

 

[StargazingDog]

IMHO, you aren't missing anything by not buying Founders edition. Just buy the DLC as it becomes available. Assuming you pre-ordered for the Tecumseh/Shawnee thing, you won't miss anything except the cosmetics (which I disabled after two games).

Stick to your standard edition.

 

[InsidiousMage]

I checked the Civ7 Discord earlier and there is no announcement about an issue with physical purchases not being able to be upgraded. There is even post about the upgrade being for digital only purchases or getting a reply that the issue will be addressed in a future update. Firaxis knows there is an issue with the upgrades on consoles for physical purchases but the lack of public acknowledgement makes this whole thing feel incredibly shady and that they are actively avoiding the topic. Even if they "fix" the issue and upgrades become available for physical purchases I will not regret adding my copy of the game to the stuff I sold at a used book store today. This is not how a respectable company interacts with its customers.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Firaxis knows there is an issue with the upgrades on consoles for physical purchases but the lack of public acknowledgement

It's a terrible situation but to be clear it is acknowledged on their issue tracker!

 

[InsidiousMage]

It's a terrible situation but to be clear it is acknowledged on their issue tracker!

What, specifically, is being acknowledged there? That the game isn't being recognized as being owned or that this is preventing people from upgrading their game? I was explicitly told that you can't upgrade physical versions of the game and, if that isn't true, it needs to explicitly stated by Firaxis, which is what I mean by public acknowledgement. If it is intended that people can upgrade their physical editions then Firaxis needs to put out a statement that says something along the lines of "We understand there is an issue where consoles don't recognize the game as being owned which is preventing people from upgrading to the deluxe/founders editions. We are working on a solution to the issue." That is a public acknowledgement. A single, vague sentence on a part of a website most people are unaware of is not.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

That is a public acknowledgement. A single, vague sentence on a part of a website most people are unaware of is not.

We'll just need to agree to disagree - an item on the official place they list issues seems like an acknowledgement to me.

 

[theadder]

Yep, it’s pretty clear.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Got a final reply from the support rep after I closed out my bug report.

It appears the official line from Firaxis at this point is "Sorry for leaving out this very important detail but, please, don't stop giving us money." Sorry Firaxis but I am not spending any more money on your games.