The rumors, reports, and leaks all suggest the PlayStation 5 is releasing next year, but just because the next-gen Sony console is right around the corner doesn’t mean Sony is going to stop supporting its current console: the PS4. In fact, according to Sony, it will support its second best-selling console for — at least — another three years. More specifically, during its recent investors meeting this week, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan said the PS4 plays a “critical” role in the immediate future of the company, and so support for it won’t dry up anytime soon. Ryan describes the console as “the engine of engagement and profitability for the next three years.” In other words, Ryan seems to suggest that PlayStation isn’t suspecting a mass migration to the PS5 upon release, and thus supporting and releasing content on the PS4, which will boast a much larger player base, will be very important.
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That said, PlayStation is hoping backwards compatibility will encourage players to make the jump to PS5 earlier than they would if the feature wasn’t included. Whether this will be enough to nudge players towards the new system is hard to say. I reckon that will come down more to the system’s price, power, and exclusives.
As you may know, Sony usually supports its last-gen system for a couple of years after its new one arrives, which is to say this isn’t that surprising. It will be interesting to see when it severs the PS4 from its future though.
For more news, media, and information on the PlayStation 5, be sure to peep all of our previous and extensive coverage of the system and all things related to it, by clicking right here. In the most recent and related news, PlayStation has come out and said that backwards compatibility will be very important to the PS5.
As always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ to talk all things PlayStation. Do you plan on making the jump to the PS5 from PS4 right when the next-gen system releases?
