
Sony has reportedly told developers that any new PlayStation 4 games submitted for certification after the 13th July 2020 must be able to run on PlayStation 5. This information comes courtesy of Eurogamer, who managed to get a peek at internal developer documentation that outlines Sony's instructions.
So what does this mean? Well, put simply, every PS4 game that's submitted for approval beyond the 13th July should be fully playable on PS5 through backwards compatibility -- otherwise Sony doesn't give them the green light.
However, this information shouldn't be misconstrued. Sony has previously said that the "overwhelming majority" of PS4 games will be playable on PS5. It's just that these newly discovered instructions ensure that from a certain point, all PS4 games must work on PS5. It's basically Sony making sure that developers support the PS5, even if they're crafting a PS4 release.
As for updates to existing PS4 games, or any game submitted for certification before the 13th July 2020, PS5 compatibility is not mandatory, but "strongly recommended".
Anyway, we're bound to get more information on backwards compatibility from Sony in the near future, as the PS5's big reveal seems imminent.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 20
Exactly. People acting like prior games won't work aren't paying attention. Sony said the vast majority of the 4,000 games will work. That means games that are already out. This is just making sure that all new games will work too.
I can see how many people are going to take this, especially after the confusion around previous statements getting people to think silly things like the PS5 only supporting 100 PS4 games. Hopefully a full explanation of how the BC works is given next week to clear all of this up once and for all.
If the PS5 can play PS4 games then why do the devs have to get involved?
Just a reminder to please read the article before commenting. Already seen a number of people completely miss the point of Eurogamer's report despite the fact that it clearly states what this is all about.
Thanks!
@carlos82 It's for certification. Every game you play gets tested so that it doesn't brick your console or cause issues. They're just adding PS5 as a step in that process now to make sure there are no issues on PS4 or PS5.
@get2sammyb It's basically pretty similar to Microsoft's solution as well, as far as I'm aware. Even though Series X is 100% percent compatible with One games, they still had to go through every single one manually to verify they worked without issue. It's the reason why they suspended the Xbox One backwards compatibility program with 360 and OG Xbox games, they were dedicated that team to Series X BC testing. I'm also sure that the devs themselves have to make sure the games work across both Xboxes now too.
@get2sammyb I was thinking more along the lines of what work is needed to make PS4 games work on PS5, everything coming out of the other side not only suggests that they just work but also can be hugely advanced by the hardware. I mean there are a lot of games already on PS4 so you'd hope they wouldn't cause any issues other than at worst simply not playing
I suppose that means developers will have to make sure of it as opposed to only Sony s responsibility before that.
Some people actually forget sony already have experience making BC works for 3 system, ps2 (ps1 BC), ps3 (ps1 & ps2 BC), and psvita (psp and ps1 classic BC). I have no worries about ps4 BC compability on ps5
@PretendWorking Yeah, but I still want play my last ps4 games on ps5, I have huge digital ps4 backlog lol. With BC I can sell my ps4 immediately and play the games on ps5. Edit: I already forget about medievil, I bought it on day 1 but keep getting distracted by others games, fortunately ps5 have ps4 BC
Interesting. I mean, it shouldn't be that much of a problem for devs to go through the checks to make sure their past titles can be playable on the PS5.
You have people sticking up for Sony defending their words but to me all the information sony have given out and their wordplay on certain topics does not look good for BC on ps5, I myself aren't interested in playing ps1, ps2 and ps3 games but die to my large ps4 backlog I am very interested to know that ps5 will definitely be able to play atleast 90% of ps4 games, I NEED sony to confirm that information without wordplay to get around a definite answer.
Also does anyone know if with the BC of the ps5 can you download ps4 games you own onto it or will it only be for disk versions?
The main difference here is that Sony are putting the onus on the developer to ensure compatibility rather than themselves.
The following implication being that the PS5 will not have a run all PS4 emulator, otherwise why make this request? So it then follows that games should run on a case by case basis (like the Xbox 360 games on Xbox One)
Not the end of the world, but the official reveal of the PS5 and what it will actually be able to do/not do can't come soon enough
@playstation_king
Sony doesn't "wordplay". People just need to listen better. Cerny already made it clear the CPU in the PS5 will run PS4 games native in same clockspeeds as PS4 and PS4 Pro. It's built in.
That means 99%+ compability. Even PSVR games work on the PS5 including the PSVR headset. Once again, Cerny already made that clear. Crystal clear. No wordplay if you ignore xbot rumours and just listen to everything Cerny said himself.
I’ve got a lot of PS4 games to get around to playing, so I hope at least 90% work with PS5 fresh out the box.
@playstation_king
The 100 most popular ps4 games will work in PS5 boost mode is another thing.
That means they will harness more of the PS5 clockspeeds instead over original PS4 / PS4 Pro speeds. Once again, it's clearly stated what they intend to do, IF you listen.
Seriously. Sony have made it clear now. Even older games - they will only work on the ps5 if devs make them work. That rules out hundreds and hundreds of titles straight away.
This is not “most games will work” it’s most games “could” work if devs make them work.
They even have confirmed issues with games not working will be passed back to the devs.
So many ps4 titles have been abandoned and devs will not waste time on them.
Pretty much all licensed games and titles are dead in the water.
Unless they are new.
Stop trying to see positives here.
Sony are saying if devs want to make them compatible they can. End of story
That's Good, that will make devs do the testing (and tweaking, if necessary) for it's own games, it will make the process a lot easier and straight forward for Sony.
But i totally can see people getting this the wrong way all over internet....
I still hope psone, 2 & 3 are included in Sony’s BC plans! That would be amazing!
i think this makes it pretty clear that ps5 will not have 100% b/c with ps4 games. if it did, then there would be no need for future ps4 games to be given extra care for ps4 compatibility. am i missing something? the messaging is very confusing at the moment.
if sony means to say that all ps4 games will run on ps5 out of the box, but only SOME ps4 games will get ENHANCED compatibility (i.e. improved performance), then i'm ok with that. if, however, we only get a handful of ps4 games compatible on ps5 at launch and sony will slowly roll out patches over time, then that is a complete and utter disaster for playstation fans. hopefully we will get confirmation next week and put this to rest once and for all.
This is great news, but still planning to replace my PS4 Pro with another Pro before my 2 year extended warranty expires...just waiting until I can walk into Best Buy.
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