The announcement was delivered by PS5 lead systems architect Mark Cerny and featured a breakdown of the upcoming console’s hardware capabilities. However, on top of all the discussion about teraflops, Cerny also discussed backwards compatibility. According to Cerny, the top 100 PS4 games, “as ranked by playtime,” are set to be playable on PS5 systems at launch. Well, most of them, anyway. As it stands, “almost” all of these titles are already geared up to run on the PS5.
Cerny specified that the reason only “almost” all of the games would be available at launch is largely due to the power difference between the PS4 and PS5. Due to the fact that it is significantly more powerful than its predecessor, the PS5 is currently too fast to run a select few of the older titles, meaning that developers will need to tweak their games in order to make them compatible with newer hardware. “Some game code just can’t handle it,” Cerny explained. “Testing has to be done on a title by title basis.” Regardless of this, it appears that a large fraction of the PS4’s most played games are already good to go and will be included in the PS5’s library at launch. If you’re curious about how the PS5 compares to the Xbox Series X, check out our PS5 v Xbox Series X specs breakdown. You can also check out our report on the performance differences between the PS5 and the PS4, and read up on how the PS5 offers expandable storage. The PS5 also features a new Tempest Engine audio chip, which is a “revolutionary addition to bring 3D audio to everyone.” If you’re hungry for more info, check out everything else we know about the PS5, and take a look at our list of the best PS4 games.
