Rumours of PS5’s Backwards Compatibility Are Swirling
A new US patent that was updated by Sony Interactive Entertainment America is igniting rumors that the PS5 will play PS4 games. The patent was updated on February 13, stating the following: “Backward compatibility testing of software in a mode that disrupts timing.”
While this isn’t conclusive evidence of backwards compatibility for the next generation PlayStation, it could be a sign that Sony is testing out the feature.
The patent was originally filed in 2015, just a few years after the PS4 launch. While the PS4 doesn’t allow backwards compatibility, specific PS2 models were able to play PSX games.
Analyst Michael Pachter is backing the theory of PS5 backwards compatibility.
“Will it play games that were made for the PlayStation 4 Pro?” he asks. “That’s the question. I think it will. So I think they will build a console that will backward compatible with the PS4 Pro.”
Of course, some fans are still skeptical. Jim Ryan, the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe, told Time that the company has no plans to change their stance on backwards compatibility back in 2017.
“”When we’ve dabbled with backwards compatibility, I can say it is one of those features that is much requested, but not actually used much,” he said. “That, and I was at a Gran Turismo event recently where they had PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 games, and the PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?”
The PS5 is expected to release sometime in the next couple of years, fuelling additional rumours that Sony might plan to reveal the console at E3 2018.
Pachter believes its release will be later.
“My expectation that is that it’s not coming out in 2018,” he said. “That is a 2019 or 2020 but probably 2019. Sony is probably timing it better because they are going to bring out a 4K capable device when the 4K TV market reaches 50% in the USA and 35% in the rest of the world.”