Update: I've discovered the best way to play The Last of Us 2.
The Last of Us Part 2 has been upgraded to take advantage of the power of the PS5 with a new performance patch for the game.
Announced on the PlayStation Blog, patch 1.08 will enable the option for players on PS5 to select whether the game targets 30 frames per second or 60 fps. While the game was able to hit a relatively consistent 30 fps already, being able to double that for an even smoother experience is a feature fans have been requesting for months.
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The Last of Us Part 2, which originally released on PS4 in June 2020, has technically been playable on PS5 since the console’s launch through backwards compatibility. But this free upgrade means the game will now utilize the next-gen hardware in a variety of ways.
Director of communications at developer Naughty Dog, Arne Meyer, explained that this new patch “allows you to choose your preferred framerate to complement the rest of the enhancements that are part of the PS5 backward compatibility with PS4 games, such as an enhanced resolution, faster load times, and more.”
While this patch does upgrade the game for a better overall experience, it’s not a native PS5 version. Even with this patch, the game is playing through the PS5’s backwards compatibility mode, so don’t expect it to match up in terms of resolution and loading speeds to full PS5 releases such as Returnal and Demon’s Souls.
Sony has released PS5 patches for a number of its most popular exclusives in recent months. Titles selected have included God of War and Ghost of Tsushima. Hopefully, these free upgrades keep coming as we’d love to see PS4 exclusives like Bloodborne and Uncharted 4 play even better on PS5 as well.
How to download The Last of Us Part 2 PS5 patch
Patch 1.08 is a free download and functions just like any other update. If you currently have The Last of Us Part 2 stored on your PS5 console and updates set to automatic it should already be downloaded.
You can check by hitting options on the game tile and scrolling down to “update history” which will show you the latest patch you have installed. If you’ve not got the patch installed, once again press the options button while hovering over the Last of Us Part 2 game tile and select “check for update."
The patch should now begin downloading. Remarkably it’s only a 299MB download, so it shouldn’t take you long to install it. Remember, to take advantage of this PS5 performance boost, you need to have the game installed on the console’s internal SSD and not an external hard drive.
Also, if it wasn’t already obvious, while PS4 players can download patch 1.08, the console doesn’t support 60 fps as that’s a PS5 only feature. Why not check out our PS5 restock guide, if you want to upgrade your console.
