Dirt 5 is headed to next-gen consoles in November. But first, Dirt 5 will be released on current-gen consoles on November 6, 2020. Players who are interested in starting their racing adventures on Dirt 5 right away and carrying over the progress to the next-gen will have to think twice, however, depending on which console they are using.
Dirt 5 will not have transferable saves from PS4 to PS5. This means that all progress starts over with the next-gen, which is certainly a bummer for anyone who may have been thinking about upgrading. This isn't the case for the Xbox though. The official DirtGame Twitter page tweeted out clarification about the saves, communicating that all Xbox progress will carry over between generations, which isn't the case with the PS4/PS5.
The one and only thing that will carry over from the PS4 to the PS5 is Dirt 5's Playground creations. The Playground allows players to create their own tracks, and since the courses are saved on the Dirt 5 servers, the creations will be there between generations. But that is the extent of it, as career mode progress, currency, and saved liveries will have a fresh start.
Dirt 5 will be one of the Xbox X/S launch titles on November 10, and the game has also been confirmed as an Xbox Smart Delivery title, meaning players can upgrade from the Xbox One version to the Xbox Series X/S version for free. The fact that the upgrade is free and that all progress is carried over are all things that seem to give the Xbox version of Dirt 5 an advantage.
The save in progress between generations might be thanks to the Xbox's cloud saving features. Even with backward compatible games and progress from the Xbox One, players should be able to boot up the same game on the Xbox Series X and pick up exactly where they left off.
Dirt 5 has been delayed a few times over the past month, oftentimes by merely a week or so. The hope is that the game has finally settled in on its November release dates (different days for current-gen, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5). With a lack of a few big-name racing titles this year, like Forza for example, Dirt 5 has a nice opportunity to stand out this holiday season on both current and next-gen. It is reassuring to know that if someone were to pick up the current-gen Xbox version and buy an Xbox Series X/S later on, perhaps even receiving it as a gift over the holidays, that all of the progress will carry over.
Dirt 5 will be released November 6 for PS4 & Xbox One, November 10 for Xbox Series S & X, November 12 for PS5, and a 2021 release for Stadia.