PlayStation has moved to clarify PlayStation 5’s plans for backwards compatibility with PS4 games.
In a presentation on Wednesday,PS5architectMark CernysaidSony expected almost all of the top 100 PS4 games to be playable on PS5at launch.
In an updated statement published on Friday,Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Hideaki Nishino said the company wouldtest compatibility with “thousands” more PS4 gamesbefore PS5’s launch.
The platform holder believes that the “overwhelming majority” ofPS4games will be playable on PS5, Nishino claimed, but he did not provide a timescale for doing so.
The statement reads: “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!”
Sony revealed the officialPlayStation 5 hardware specificationson Wednesday, and confirmed new features related to expandable storage and 3D audio.
Microsoftalso released the fullXbox Series X hardware specificationsearlier this week, and shared new details aboutXbox Series X’s own backwards compatibility, including how older games will look and play on the next-gen console.
As previously reported,Xbox Series Xwill be backwards compatible with existingXbox Oneaccessories and games, including backward-compatibleXbox 360and originalXboxtitles.
Improved resolutions and frame rates, and HDR support for backwards compatible games are proposed as system level features and the latter could be applied across the entire Xbox library, Microsoft said.
