Sony answers "top questions" about how PS4 games will work on PS5

By Heidi Nicholas,

Sony's Hideaki Nishino, senior VP for platform planning & management, has answered "top questions" about how PS4 games will work on PS5, covering backwards compatibility, Game Boost, and more.

Sony recently confirmed that the PS5 is backwards compatible with nearly all PS4 games. The "overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 games" will be playable on the PS5 — including huge PS4 hits like Ghost of Tsushima, and any backward compatible PS4 games included with PS Plus and PS Now — with only ten games remaining as only compatible with the PS4.

Hideaki Nishino went into more detail on a recent PlayStation Blog post, saying, "PS4 titles get even better on PS5. Select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds on the PS5 console, and will also leverage Game Boost, offering improved or more stable frame rates. Some titles with unlocked frame rates or dynamic resolution up to 4K may see higher fidelity. Additionally, PS4 games will also take advantage of some of PS5’s new UX features, but more to come on that later."

You will be able to stream PS4 games on the PS5, saving your PS5 some storage space, although you won't be able to make use of the PS5 Game Boost feature through streaming. Nishino added that cross-generational games will vary as to whether they allow you to transfer game saves between PS4 and PS5 versions, and lists Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure as two games which will support game save transfers.

There's not long to wait until the PS5 launches next month. If you're looking for more PS5 news to keep you going in the meantime, take a look at a PS5 teardown video where Yasuhiro Ootori, VP in the mechanical design department, hardware design division at Sony, shows off the console's internals.

PlayStation 5

Written by Heidi Nicholas

Hey, I'm Heidi! I've just finished studying a Masters in English Literature, but I've been obsessed with gaming since long before then. I began on the PS2 with Spyro, before graduating to the Xbox 360 and disappearing into Skyrim. I'm now a loyal RPG fan, but I still like to explore other genres — when I'm not playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, or being lured back into Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Witcher 3!