Sony’s original messaging around backwards compatibility was incredibly confusing, with them saying that they’d tested the “top 100 PS4 games on PS5 and believed that the majority would be playable at launch”, but this morning, they’ve updated their original PlayStation Blog post.
Sony now says that they believe that the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5. They also believe that these games will run at a boosted frequency on PS5, so that they can benefit from higher and more stable frame rates and possibly higher resolutions. They still wouldn’t make an absolute statements about every game being compatible.
This is still fairly different from Microsoft’s position on backwards compatibility for the Xbox Series X. They’re categorically saying that ALL Xbox One and compatible Xbox 360/One games will play on the Xbox Series X day one.
The updated PlayStation blog post statement can be found below:
UPDATE: A quick update on backward compatibility – With all of the amazing games in PS4’s catalog, we’ve devoted significant efforts to enable our fans to play their favorites on PS5. We believe that the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5.
We’re expecting backward compatible titles will run at a boosted frequency on PS5 so that they can benefit from higher or more stable frame rates and potentially higher resolutions. We’re currently evaluating games on a title-by-title basis to spot any issues that need adjustment from the original software developers.
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. We will provide updates on backward compatibility, along with much more PS5 news, in the months ahead. Stay tuned!
It’s going to be an interesting few months, as we learn more about the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
