Is the PlayStation 5 Backwards Compatible?

Sony's PlayStation 5 made headlines once again on Tuesday and for good reason. It finally has a name – one we all expected – and we now know roughly when we'll see the console made available to consumers since it's releasing late next year. Some of the features of the new console, its controller, and how it'll differ from the PlayStation 4 were discussed in this week's Wired article that took a closer look at the console, but the same question that appeared last time is now being asked again by consumers: Will the PlayStation 5 be backwards compatible?

The answer still seems to be an affirmative to that question, but we don't know to what extent its backwards compatibility will go. PlayStation enthusiasts and those with at least a general interest about next-gen console plans may recall that part of Wired's interview with Sony from earlier in the year revealed that the console would be backwards compatible to some degree. Wired said then that PlayStation 4 games would work on the PlayStation 5 since the next console from Sony is "based in part on the PS4's architecture."

That feature isn't one we'd ever expect to see Sony backpedal on given how it's become a key question when speculating about what the next generation of consoles will offer, but Wired's latest piece on the next PlayStation unfortunately didn't offer anything else on the nature of the PlayStation 5's backwards compatibility feature. There's talk of the PlayStation 4 and how the PlayStation 5 differs from it, but no further mention of backwards compatibility was found.

It remains to be seen then just how backwards compatible the next console will be with past PlayStation games across different generations. The PlayStation 4 itself isn't backwards compatible with past consoles to allow people to pop in a disc and start playing, though older games can be played through versions of them found in the PlayStation Store. Microsoft has already taken the biggest step in this feature as far as the next generation is concerned by confirming that the Xbox Scarlett will be backwards compatible with every previous Xbox.

Backwards compatibility aside, Wired did have some exciting new details on other aspects of the PlayStation 5. It'll be launching during holiday 2020, and we finally have an official name for it. These new details also suggest that the devkits we saw news of previously seem to be the real deal.

Look for the PlayStation 5 to release late next year, but expect Sony to have many more reveals about it before then.