PS5 Could Ship With Backwards Compatibility Support, Sony Patent Hints

The PS5, PlayStation 5, or whatever Sony plans to call its successor to the PS4, will be backwards compatible with older PlayStation games if a patent filing from the company is to be believed. What this means is, the PS5 could possibly work with PS4, PS3, PS2, and PS1 games. It's an interesting move from Sony if it gets implemented as it could spell the end of remasters or re-releases that this generation of consoles is notorious for. It possibly hints that Sony is confident of the first-party games and exclusives we'll see on the PS5 too.

According to a post from Japanese blog Hokanko-Alt (translated from Reddit via ResetEra), PS4 architect Mark Cerny is the author of the patent and it is a "a system to be applied in a future machine, PS5, and that allows the CPU of the new console to be able to 'interpret' the central unit of the previous machines."

"The aim is to make the applications designed for the previous consoles (legacy device) run perfectly on the most powerful hardware, and is focused on eliminating the synchronisation errors between the new consoles and the behaviour of the previous ones (PS4, PS3, PS2 and PSX)," the post reads. " For example, if the CPU of the new console is faster than the previous one, data could be overwritten prematurely, even if they were still being used by another component."

This follows noted analyst Daniel Ahmad stating that Sony's first-party studios such as Sony Santa Monica and Polyphony are already working on PS5 hardware, lending credence to a possible 2020 launch.

Previously, PS5 specifications were leaked, if true, it could be a welcome step up from the PS4 Pro. Though if history is any indication, Sony's best innovations would be with the games.

PS5 specifications and price

• CPU: Custom 8 cores / 16 Threads Zen 2 CPU
• GPU: Custom NAVI @8+ teraflops
• Memory: 12GB GDDR6
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Price: $399 (around Rs. 28,500)

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