PS5 backwards compatibility: Can PS4 games be played on the PlayStation 5?
Created: 05/12/2022, 18:22
By: Omer Kayali
The PlayStation 5 has many features.
But backwards compatibility for PS4 games is particularly important for gamers.
Is the PS5 backward compatible?
In November 2020, the PS5* was released worldwide.
Sony's next-gen console offers numerous improvements.
But players are particularly interested in one thing: backwards compatibility with PS4 games.
The PS5 offers a whole range of improvements and new features - especially in terms of graphics and gameplay.
But one function is particularly important for many players: backwards compatibility – i.e. the possibility of playing PS4 or even PS3, PS2 and PS1 titles on the new console.
Is this possible on the PS5?
PS5 is backwards compatible: Sony confirms over 4,000 PS4 titles
Over the years, the game library of PS4 users has grown - players would therefore be able to play titles like "The Last of Us 2" on the PS5 as well.
© Naughty Dog
Sony had confirmed on the official PlayStation Blog that the
PS5 will be backwards compatible
- but this only applies to PS4 games.
More than 4,000 titles should be playable
from the previous console
.
"We anticipate that backward-compatible titles will run at an increased frequency on PS5, allowing them to benefit from higher or more stable frame rates and potentially higher resolutions," the post reads.
PS, PS2 & PS3 will not be playable on the PS5
However, games from the
PS3
,
PS2
or even the very first
PlayStation
will not be compatible with the PS5.
That's what PlayStation boss Jim Ryan told
Famitsu
.
Understandably, the PS4 titles had priority in order to make the switch to the next-gen console as easy as possible for users.
Maybe PS5 backwards compatibility will be expanded for games on older consoles, but Sony hasn't announced any such plans at the moment.
Also read
: Prices for PS5 and Xbox Series X games: Games will become more expensive in the future.
PS4 games for PS5: upgrades and digitally purchased games
Another question PS4 owners have is whether the games they bought digitally can be transferred to the PS5.
As long as the same PSN account is also activated on the new console, all
titles purchased digitally will also be available
with it .
Numerous games also appear as so-called
“cross-gen” titles
on PS4 and PS5.
So that players do not have to buy these twice, there is the possibility of a free upgrade.
While Microsoft will make this possible for all games with the
"Smart Delivery" feature
for the Xbox Series X, things are a little different for Sony and the PS5.
The decision is left to the developer studios and the respective publisher as to whether a free upgrade is offered.
CD Projekt RED has already guaranteed this for "Cyberpunk 2077", for example.
(ok)