Some new comments from PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan have some PS5 early adopters worried that they won’t be seeing many true next-gen games for at least a couple of years. Speaking during a new interview, Ryan reaffirmed Sony’s commitment to PS4, the second best-selling console of all time if you remove handhelds from the equation. In the process of this, Ryan suggests the console will be actively be supported until at least 2022, and while he doesn’t say this support will manifest in the form of cross-gen release, it’s what he seemingly hints at.
According to Ryan, the COVID-19 pandemic opened the eyes of Sony about what’s possible with PS4, noting that in the next couple of years, PS4 users will remain the bulk of PlayStation players. Adding to this, Ryan says “it is crucial” to keep these players “engaged and happy.”
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“Obviously, our eyes and our horizons have lifted with regards to what’s possible with that PS4 community, based on what we’ve observed over the last six months,” said Ryan while speaking to Games Industry about the huge influx of players as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “That can be quite powerful, because in 2021, 2022… that PS4 community that we’ve spoken about, they will be the vast majority of people on PlayStations during that time. It is crucial that we keep them engaged and happy. And the last six months have demonstrated that we could do that to an extent that we didn’t think possible when we were setting our minds pre-COVID.”
As you can see, Ryan doesn’t elaborate on how Sony plans to keep PS4 players “engaged and happy,” but you’d assume this would, at the very least, include releasing more PS4 games. However, it’s also possible this is simply PR speak. After all, it’s something that many console makers say about a console they are about to leave behind.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with supporting the PS4 with cross-gen releases if that’s what Sony decides to do, but this will hold said games back, at least to an extent, which will undoubtedly not sit well with some early adopters, who by definition of being early adopters, are paying a premium at the first opportunity to experience new and state-of-the-art tech.
For now, it remains to be seen how Sony will keep PS4 players “engaged and happy” through 2021 and 2022, but if the PS5 launch line-up is any indication of what’s to come, it will be with many cross-gen releases.
