PS5's Backward Compatibility May Include All Previous Generations of PlayStation Consoles

[Tsing]

PlayStation insider @PSErebus's two-week old tweet teasing the backward compatibility of Sony's next-generation console is finally picking up steam on gaming sites. To their credit, this happens to be the same individual who correctly outed The Last of Us 2's release date before it was officially revealed, which adds credence to his suggestion that PS5 will support the entire PlayStation library, from PS1 to PS4.

This theory clashes with some recent comments made by Sony, however. Speaking with Famitsu, the company's public relations unit stated that the PS5 dev team was still "putting all power on verifying whether they can secure a complete compatibility." The implication is that not all games may be supported.

Furthermore, Vice journalist Patrick Klepek has added fuel to this fire with a comment made on the Waypoint Radio podcast. "Everything I’ve heard about the PS5 – this is going back full two years now – has been a huge emphasis on ‘history’ and that it’s going to be the sort of thing where it’s not just about the future, but also about the past; that means your ability to play lots of those games."

 

[Tetsuo]

I think if this were true it'd only include games purchased from the PlayStation store to keep or increase the revenue stream of previous gen game sales. The PS4 already has titles running on PS2 and PSP emulation under the hood so a PS5 being able to run PS1 Classics, PS2 Classics, and PSP titles from the store wouldn't be that surprising and allow them to keep collecting digital game sales for those older systems. For PS3 backwards compatibility I think they would just deliver the digital store purchased game via streaming like they do with PS3 titles on PSNow. The funny thing is this might be the real reason they removed the monthly PS3 and Vita titles from the PS Plus service to get you to buy more old titles from the digital store after the PS5 release.