The Playstation 5 is just over a month from release and a lot of gamers are asking the big question: can we play our PS4 games and what would it need? Stemming all the way back since the PS5’s announcement, Sony has been very adamant about backwards compatibility on the PS5 to older Playstation 4 titles. Sony has now made it clearer that PS4 games will be playable on PS5 when it launches this November with over 4000 games readily playable on launch, as detailed by a recent Playstation blog post.
Its always big news once a new console comes out but its never been this big. With both companies doing near simultaneous announcements and almost identical hardware that still vie for pure performance dominance, games have always been the driving force behind these consoles. At a time where games prove to be more than a distraction but rather a sanity lifeline in this global crisis. The global situation has made it tough for everyone in the world especially in some areas. Being forced to be at home can do a number to one’s psyche from longing all the way to depression in a time where mental health is a valid concern. Thankfully, many have turned to gaming which has proven to be resilient to the global situation’s impact on society. From hypercasual games to esports, gaming has opened up a window to deal with this ordeal for many people.
Hypercasual games make it easily accessible for anyone to pickup a game and distract themselves or completely immerse themselves in the games. Popular esports titles continue to provide competitive play for serious gamers and esports tournaments are still played throughout the global situation proving the esports is here to stay. Other aspects of gaming has also seen a spike in its playerbase like online slots games and other similar online casino titles. Convenient and readily accessible, online casinos have been a welcome distraction for many gamers while the more youth-oriented esports betting websites are still also in full swing thanks to the persistence of CSGO, DOTA2, LOL and Valorant tournaments.
Over at the console side of the market, releases for PS4 and Xbox are slimming down in anticipation of the next-gen releases. The biggest question was support for older titles. Demand for backwards compatibility has been a demand that a lot of gamers want. From PS2 supporting PSX games, to the PS3 support PS2 games and eventually with the PS4, backwards supports was a dream until the announcement of the PS5 wherein Sony has promised full backwards compatibility of the PS5 with PS4 titles. This is a hot issue because of game ownership tends to lose value once a new console is out and older gen titles are not maintained nor playable anymore meaning a collection of PSX all to the way to the PS3 is now pretty much useless unless you own each respective generation but as technology progress and support these machines fade, the job of maintaining these games to keep them playable is harder.
With the Playstation 5 showcasing incredibly powerful hardware, older PS4 games will play faster on the PS5. Since the PS5 comes in both a no-disc and a disc drive model, PS4 discs from the majority of supported titles can be readily loaded on the PS5. The digital no-disc version will play PS Plus owned games as long as supported and this goes for the disc version as well.
The Playstation 5 supports PS4 gamepads but please note of technicalities like a PSVR for the PS4 will only work with its native hardware while the new PS5 VR will work with its own and will not be cross compatible.
Sony has also enabled syncing of save from either consoles thru USB as you would normally would right now between two PS4s. This allows older saved from yours or your friend to operate on your fresh new PS5.
Also, there is a list of games that award PS4 owners with an improved PS5 version on release. NBA 2K21 is notable for this. Sony also reminds that some PS4 games may not be compatible with the PS5 but that list is currently still being populated and only a number of titles are currently listed. The known incompatible games are below:
PS4 Only Titles:
- DWVR
- Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One
- TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2
- Just Deal With It!
- Shadow Complex Remastered
- Robinson: The Journey
- We Sing
- Hitman Go: Definitive Edition
- Shadwen
- Joe’s Diner
That being said Sony is still working some of the caveats and limits of cross-compatibility between the two platforms as Sony will be looking to clear its stocks of PS4 as well as its games in the early years of the PS5. Still, the great news is that there seems to be no hindrance in allowing the PS5 as well as gamers to fluidly transition to the new console and still retain playability of their older games, extended the value of the older games.
