It has been known for some time that the PS5 will have backward compatibility. Now, Sony’s CEO has specifically commented on this, speaking about 4,000 games. But how does this compare to other platforms, especially the PlayStation 4?
Where does the information come from? Sony’s CEO and President Jim Ryan mentioned in an interview with CNET what goals are behind the new PS5 design.
What exactly did he say? During the interview, he also addressed the topic of backward compatibility. When asked by the journalist whether PS4 Blu-rays could be used with the PS5, he replied:
We have said that the PS5 was designed to play PS4 games. We are working with publishers and developers to test this extensive library of over 4,000 games. We are satisfied with the progress that has been made.
Jim Ryan, CEO and President of Sony; Source: Cnet.com
Already during a developer stream, Mark Cerny, Chief Engineer at Sony, explained that the top 100 PS4 games will work on the PS5.
Ryan does not say it directly, but at the launch of the PS5, many games are likely to run on the new console if the tests go as positively as he describes.
This is why backward compatibility is important for the PS5
Why this is important: Sony has already stated that cross-generation gameplay between PS4 and PS5 will be possible. The more games are compatible with the PS5, the broader the choice of what players can play between the consoles.
When someone buys a PS5, they can continue to play titles with friends, even if those friends are still on the PS4.
Microsoft has long been on the path to make original Xbox titles compatible with Xbox One and more.
PS5 offers backward compatibility – does the PS4 do that too?
This is how it looked at the PS4 launch in 2013: The PlayStation 4 had no backward compatibility at its launch at the end of 2013 and therefore started with only around 20 launch titles (via blog.playstation.com).
For the PS5, the game offerings could look significantly different. Instead of a handful of games, buyers may also be able to fall back on their old games. This may make the PS5 more attractive to buyers than the PS4 was at launch.
But isn’t PlayStation Now available on PS4? Those who say that you can also stream old PS2 and PS3 games on the PS4 with PlayStation Now are fundamentally correct. However, this was not available at the PS4 launch:
- PlayStation Now has only been available since January 28, 2014, in North America and since April 15, 2015, in Europe (only the UK launched earlier)
- Your old game discs are not compatible with the PS4, regardless of the method used.
On the PS5, this should now be different if we are to believe Sony’s CEO Ryan.
How many games are actually 4,000?
So many games are available on PS4: According to the English Wikipedia list (last updated on June 14, 2020), there are currently 2,656 games for the PlayStation 4. There is no backward compatibility for PS4 to older titles.
If you include all PlayStation titles that can currently be purchased in the PlayStation Store, you get a total of 5,031 games.
So many games are available for Xbox One: There are currently 2,511 games for the Xbox One (via Wikipedia). Of the 2,085 games released for the Xbox 360, 577 are also playable on the Xbox One.
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are therefore closely matched in terms of their game counts, and the PS5 is expected to keep pace with both and possibly even surpass them in the future.
So many games are available on Steam: In addition to consoles, we also took a quick look at the PC for comparison. According to PC Gamer, there were more than 30,000 games on the Steam platform as of January 2019.
By now, especially due to many indie games, that number has likely increased significantly.
Do you want to learn more about the PlayStation 5? Then check out our overview, where we have summarized the most important information about the PS5 for you and keep you updated here on MeinMMO.
