Sony: All new PS4 games must be forward compatible with PlayStation 5

Game developers must also make every new PlayStation 4 game compatible with the PlayStation 5 from July. At the same time, Sony says that PS5 exclusives will not all be playable on the older console.

As of July 13, every game that is certified by Sony for the PS4 must also be able to run on the PS5. The forwards compatibility should also remain in it after the release of the console; developers are not allowed to remove it, Eurogamer writes on the basis of documents on Sony’s internal developer website.

The feature applies to games that will be certified for the PlayStation 4 on or after July 13 of this year. There are also a number of games in development that will be released after that date, but will already be certified – for them the new rule applies not. Sony says it is personally reaching out to developers to help them get the compatibility done.

The requirement goes beyond just checking a check mark, Sony writes. The game is officially ‘compatible’ if the supplied code runs without problems on the new console, and if the game has the same functions on the PS5 as it does on the PS4.

Sony has previously said that the PlayStation 5 will be backwards compatible, but so far no official requirements have been set for this. The company did say that “the vast majority” of PS4 games can also be played on the new console.

At the same time, the games for the PS5 are not automatically playable on the PS4, as is the case with the Xbox. Sony CEO Jim Ryan says in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz that the upcoming console “should have features and benefits that the previous generation does not have.” According to Ryan, game developers should put those benefits into the games for the new console.