In the past, Sony has dismissed calls for it to introducebackward compatibility to the PS4. In an interview, Sony executive Shawn Layden recognized that the featured was “much requested” but said that in practice, very few people actually make use of it. The comments appeared to dash any hopes of backward compatibility happening, but the company may have since changed its tune.
According to NPD’s Mat Piscatella, Sony is preparing to do a 180 on its previous stance on backward compatibility. In an interview, the industry analyst said that he would be “surprised” if thePS5wasn’t backward compatible with PS4 games. Piscatella suggested that thePS5’s backward compatibility would make use of PlayStation Now, Sony’s streaming service which allows players on PS4 (and even PC) to stream PS4 and PS3 games.
Also, Piscatella “wouldn’t be surprised” if the next-generation Xbox also featured backward compatibility.Xbox One backward compatibilityalready allows players to enjoy Xbox 360 games, and it sounds as though Microsoft will be keen to preserve that feature moving forward. Piscatella also added that he expects the next Xbox and the PS5 to offer backward compatibility in “slightly different ways” and with “different messaging.”
Many would agree that if Sony did make the PS5 backward compatible, it would be an incredibly smart business move from the company. Although the PS4 still leads the Xbox One in terms of sales, backward compatibility is one feature that Microsoft has been able to promote without Sony being able to effectively counter.
The Xbox One’s backward compatibility has also been a key selling point of the console and could be for the next-generation Xbox, too. However, by offering the feature in the PS5, this will prevent Microsoft from gaining too much ground in the area.
Piscatella’s comments may be just a suggestion, but it’s reasonable to think that Sony will make the feature happen for its next-generation console. Not only is there a compelling business case for Sony to offer backward compatibility, but also the company has recently shown a willingness to make fan-requested features happen. Some new features include the ability to change a PSN username andSony has finally allowed cross-platform play to happenbetween PS4 and other consoles. The timing could just be right for a backward compatiblePS5.
