PS4’s Play Go System Is Broken And Sony Needs To Fix It

With better visuals and gameplay mechanics comes games with bigger file size. Recently it was revealed that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the PlayStation 4 may reach at least 50 GB in size. So I guess it goes without saying that file size of games will only become bigger as the current generation of consoles moves ahead in their life cycles. Sony is somehow trying to remedy the problem by introducing Play Go for the PlayStation 4.

As the name suggests, using Play Go, players are allowed to download a certain portion of the game so that they can avoid waiting long hours to play it. The rest of the game keeps downloading in the background. However it seems that this is not working as intended.

Recently I got my hands on the PS4 versions of Dying Light and the on going open beta of Battlefield Hardline. Dying Light on PSN allows you to download the single player component separately which clocks in around 5.5GB. As usual I downloaded it on my PS4 but as soon as you are through the first half hour of the game (possible spoilers: After completing the training, I went downstairs to meet Rahim), the game won’t let me enter an elevator, instead showing a frustrating message: Required Content Not Yet Installed. Installing %

This issue has been depicted in the video below.

I found this rather bizarre since the entire single player component was downloaded on my PS4. The tricky thing is that the amount of download pending is no longer visible under Downloads in Notifications. After searching through the PS4 user interface, I found out that the relevant information was being shown on the game’s tile. I had to press the Options button on the tile and there it displayed how much of the game is pending for download.

I found out that it actually needs to download another 3.32 GB (total 8.82GB) to let me play a bit further. The game’s final size is 17.90 GB on the PS4. What is the point of the Play Go system if 1. It does not showcase the correct file information about the single player component and 2. You can only play through a fair portion of the game when you have downloaded over 50%?

The same goes with Battlefield Hardline. The Play Go system allowed me to download around 2.77 GB, the minimum amount that I need to get started with the beta. Turns out it does not work that way as the game simply won’t go beyond the menu screen. In the end the entire thing had to be downloaded in order to go past the menu screen.

Sony should have a stringent process for checking the game before certifying them for the digital launch. At the end of the day, the system is not working as it should and Sony should fix it.

It can be annoying for users. I know it was for me.