The next-gen floodgates have opened, and we now finally know the price and release date of the PlayStation 5. The system will launch on November 12, but the launch line-up isn’t huge. However, you’ll be able to play various PlayStation 4 games on the system from launch, and it sounds like backwards compatibility will run deeper than we initially thought.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan said that backwards compatibility has been tested with “thousands” of games, and that most of them work. In fact, the figure he gives is “99 percent,” meaning that it will be rare for a PS4 game to not work on Sony’s new console.
Sony initially confirmed that the PS5 will be able to run most of the “top 100” PS4 games, but later said that the system will support an “overwhelming majority” of PS4 games. 99% is certainly an overwhelming majority.
Unfortunately, there’s still not indication that the PS5 will run games from the PS3, PS2, or PS1.
Ryan also told The Washington Post that he expects the PS4’s life span to continue for another “three or four years,” and that the system will continue to be supported. “Many will transition to PS5, we hope if we do our job well, but tens of millions will still be engaged with the PS4,” Ryan said.
Sony has also announced the PS Plus exclusive Plus Collection, which gives subscribers on PS5 access to a back catalog of some of the PS4’s best games, including Bloodborne, God of War, Uncharted 4, and more.
