Sony CEO Says PS5 Backward Compatibility is More Important Now Than Any Previous Generation

Backward compatibility is going to be a big part of the next-gen PlayStation. So much so that the company's CEO is promising all PS4 games will be compatible with the PS5.

Although the next-gen PlayStation is still a year or more away, Sony is talking up the console quite a bit these days. While we know a good deal of the technical specs of the PlayStation 5 by now, Sony is also spending a good amount of time talking about the backward compatibility feature that will be a part of the PS5.

In an interview with Financial Times, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan said that the "networked world" is much different today than it was during the transition between PS3 and PS4. As such, the PS5 will not only play PS4 games, but it sounds like transferring accounts from one generation to the next could be easier too.

"When everything is networked and everybody is connected and everybody is friends, the opportunity–with backwards compatibility–to migrate that community in a more efficient manner I think is massively more attractive for gamers and for us than at any point in the past," Ryan said.

Ryan seems to have taken a bit of a turn on backward compatibility with the PS5. In an interview with Time back in 2017, Ryan once questioned the appeal of backward compatibility, but Ryan's comments seemed to have focused on the graphical quality of PS1 and PS2-era games. Perhaps the graphical leap between the PS4 and PS5 won't be as drastic.

The transition between PS4 and PS5 could be more gradual than previous generations. With games like Death Stranding launching on the PS4, but playable on the next-gen console, there might not be an immediate need to transition from one console to the next right away. Yakuza series director Toshihiro Nagoshi said something similar when describing his time with the PS5 as well.

In the meantime check out our PS5 guide for more info on Sony's next-gen console, including specs, features, games, and more.