Cross-Buy Between PS5 and PC Might be Coming in the Future - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 05 November 2025 / 5,193 Views
A new "Cross-Buy" icon has been discovered on PlayStation 5 consoles that suggests a feature similar to Xbox Play Anywhere could be coming soon for PlayStation owners, according to reliable leaker billbil-kun on Dealabs.
The "Cross-Buy" icon, alongside a "PS5/PC" icon, were discovered by a user on social media and billbil-kun in their own testing were able to determine the icons are real. CSS files in PlayStation Store data did mention "crossbuy-tag" in some properties of the file.
"Cross-Buy" did exist during the days of the PlayStation Vita as it allowed games to be played on a PS4/PS3 and PS Vita with a single purchase on the PlayStation Store. However, these new icons were added to the PlayStation website in June 2025, according to billbil-kun.
It is possible this new "Cross-Buy" icon could be between the PS5 and PC or between a PS5 and some other new PlayStation console.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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This is GREAT NEWS. I have been a strong advocate on that (when Microsoft started with Xbox Anywhere) and this is amazing if Sony does the same....
PlayStation PC Launcher is coming
I guess not needing one was too good to last... In other news, no Sony games for me in the future (I don't have all that many of them on PC anyway just yet, but I'm interested in getting more eventually).
Playstation games on PC day 1!? Yes please! I accept the launcher, i have no problems playing outside Steam.
The day is coming! All gaming in one box, PC for the Win! Playstation, Xbox, emulation... PC Will be the absolute king !!
I'm probably alone in not minding a PS launcher at all, at least for first party it would actually feel more right to me and the possibility of getting (some) PS+ games back on PC like in the PS Now days is intriguing if nothing else. I guess the only problem is if they start trying to charge for online on there but good luck with that on PC.
Let me buy physical games for PS5 and then put them into my PC's disk drive and play them on my PC at max settings. That way I get to own my games and play with everything maxed out. Best of both worlds.
Obviously not doable in reality (unless the disk acted as a key to download the PC version) but it is the dream!
PS5 is just a linux OS. Just let us run that modified Linux OS on our PCs.
Nope nope nope. This is almost 100% going to mean that buying Sony games on PC will require a PSN account, so I don't want this. Sony could definitely implement it in some other way as well to not make it mandatory, but it's been a really long time since I trusted Sony to treat its customers respectfully.
It wouldn't necessarily require you to have an account to buy the games. but obviously you would need to link accounts if you want to have access to your ps5 gmaes. that's just inherently how it works.
Yes, hence my last sentence.
What about cross buy between cross gen? PS4 and PS5?
PS4 and PS5 are more similar, yet are different platforms. Not console vs PC different, but still different.
Extra work needs to go towards porting PS5 titles to PC, like the extra work going into upgrading PS4 titles to PS5.
I don't see why this cross buy should only apply to PC and not PS4. Why should console only players pay more to upgrade from a PS4 to PS5 title if PS5 to PC is free?
Sony doesn’t make games for PS4 anymore. They’re only on PS5 and it’s only been PS5 games that have been ported to PC up to this point.
Well, minus God of War 2018
Horizon Forbidden West is also cross gen isn't it?
Well if SNY decides not to make some games cross gen then obviously they can't come with cross buy.
The point would be, for cross gen titles, they should fall under the same cross buy standard. If you buy a PS5 game, you get the PC version (and PS4 version if there is one) and vice versa.
Next gen may very well end up with many cross gen titles, potentially for the entire length of the gen, so cross buy in that case would make a ton of sense.
That’s completely fair! Currently it explicitly states PS5/PC, so I imagine that’s what they’ll be sticking with since there’s usually an upgrade fee with Sony titles.
That can certainly change during the PS6 gen though.
Wow Sony not being greedy is something new lol
What I want to see happen is that if I have the physical copy of a PS4/PS5 game. I should be able to download the digital copy of the game whenever I want to.
It's also stupid that I can't rate games on the PS Store if I've only got the physical version.
Everything i said years ago is finally coming to pass.
Awesome and was predictable.
How would this work? With Xbox Play Anywhere its linked to the Xbox PC store.
Are PlayStation launching their own storefront? Or is Steam requires a login for Sony games would it link there?
PlayStation at least creating their own PC launcher is currently the belief. Idk if they're launching their own storefront though that's akin to Steam. I imagine it would be for first-party Sony games, like how Battle.net is.
Crossbuy would require Steam and Epic Games Store to give away free keys to those buying PS5 versions of whatever games would be available. Which would mean Steam and Epic losing money. Something I doubt they would agree to.
Sony also dropped their PSN requirement on Steam/EGS, so I doubt they would reintroduce that.
Sony making a new portable (rumored) could very well be like the ally x in that its a portable PC with its own launcher and steam support. Games coming to the PS6 will be cross buy for this device and playable on this portable as well ala xb play anywhere.
Good news if this is true. Although, I do not see the point of owning both platforms.
Almost all PS5 owners have a PC/Laptop I'm sure lol. They just may not game on it or game on it less frequently.
This could be cool for steamdeck owners.
That depends on how Sony handles cross-buy, since they wouldn't be operating through their own storefront. Valve and Epic would have to give away free keys if someone is coming from console, which I doubt they would be willing to do unless Sony covers the cost, because neither company would receive a dime if someone just purchased a game on PS5.
I'm personally figuring this will be tied to a PlayStation PC launcher that has all the first-party games.
A PlayStation launcher? Now that would be interesting.
Almost everyone have both lol...
The vast majority of PCs aren't running current AAA games very well
Just because we all have a laptop doesn't mean they all have a 4070 or better
That's why games like Minecraft, Roblox, Counter-Strike, and League of Legends are amongst the most played games in the world every day. You don't need a beefy PC to play them lol.
It is true; but it does not mean that you need to run those games are max settings or that you need to be able to run all games :)
But I think it is naive to believe that there is no point having both a PC and a console, that's my point :)
I have a PS5 and a Steam Deck, I'd love to not pay for my Sony games again on PC.
I mean you can wait. Do not most PS5 titles arrive on PC?
Why? Why are you even arguing lol
Being able to buy a game ONCE and being able to play it on mutiple platforms (in that case the Steam Deck and a Play Station 5) is simply a MUCH better thing for the consumer...
