Sony Clarifies PS5 Backward Compatibility

Following the PlayStation 5 deep dive on March 18, Sony has clarified the new console’s potential for backward compatibility.

Sony’s deep-dive, presented by lead architect Mark Cerny, gave a lot of new details about the PS5. Almost all these details were technical and mostly concerned with specs more than anything else. The console’s design was not revealed, and neither was a price point. For the common man (such as myself), the technologically-dense presentation was a little bit confusing.

So when Cerny began discussing backward compatibility for the PS5, everyone paid close attention. But even such a relatively simple topic led to some confusion as well.

“We recently took a look at the 100 top PlayStation 4 titles as ranked by playtime,” Cerny explained, “and we’re expecting almost all of them to be playable at launch on PlayStation 5.”

This statement is ambiguous and led to confusion among those watching. Would this mean that only the most popular PS4 games will be playable on the PS5? If that number is only at launch, what type of numbers are we talking about further down the road? Considering that the Xbox Series X will have backward compatibility for all Xbox One titles and thousands of Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, backward compatibility for the PS5 looks incredibly weak.

However, Sony took to the PlayStation blog to clear things up. The post clarifies that “the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5.” As well, Sony writes that “We’re currently evaluating games on a title-by-title basis to spot any issues that need adjustment from the original software developers.”

These evaluations are what Cerny was actually referring to in his presentation.

“In his presentation, Mark Cerny provided a snapshot into the Top 100 most-played PS4 titles, demonstrating how well our backward compatibility efforts are going. We have already tested hundreds of titles and are preparing to test thousands more as we move toward launch.”

This is good news, especially considering how important backward compatibility is to consumers at this point in time. And although PS5 backward compatibility is not as extensive as the Xbox Series X, it will still be substantial.

What do you think about all this? Did Sony’s PS5 breakdown impress you? Bore you? Which console are you thinking about picking up? Let us know in the comments below!