Report: The Last of Us II and other PS4 games are compatible with PS5, more

With Sony’s new flagship console set for release this holiday season, some are still wondering how PS5 backward compatibility will work. Not to mention whether or not the last run of PS4 games will be compatible with the new console later this year. A pair of reports is shedding new light into how this might work when PlayStation 5 finally hits store shelves in 2020. Head below for all the details.

PlayStation 4 games on PS5?

Before we dig into PS5 backward compatibility, a new report from Eurogamer suggests new PS4 games might also have to be compatible with PS5. Good news indeed and it appears that will apply to a pair of the platform’s most high-profile remaining releases in The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.

According to developer documentation on Sony’s internal partner website, it looks like all PS4 games submitted for certification from July 13, 2020, will require PS5 compatibility. This compatibility apparently suggests that all PS4 games launching after that date must have also been tested on PS5 and provide the same experience, if not the same feature set, to the gamer. just keep in mind, there is a difference between certification and actually releasing. So some games that have been certified before July 13 but are releasing thereafter might not have had to meet this requirement.

Although reports suggest Sony is strongly recommending to developers that any patch or remaster for a game (we are assuming this also means the game itself, but it’s hard to say) submitted before July 13 also be ready for PS5 compatibility, without specifically enforcing it. While The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima would not have hit the July 13 certification cut-off, Eurogamer suggests both titles are indeed compatible with PS5.

PS5 backward compatibility:

Ok so the forward compatibility part of this appears to be in good shape, but let’s dig into PS5 backward compatibility. A recent tidbit of information, that has since been removed, was spotted on the official PS5 website in Iceland suggesting players will be able to “Play a back catalog of supported PS4 games with a system update.” While the details are still thin, mostly because of that “with system update” part, Sony has already confirmed that over 4000 games will be supported via PS5 backward compatibility. It just still a little unclear as to how it will work and how long it will take for all 4,000 titles to become playable after the PS5 release date.

Electronicsforward’ Take:

(Update 5/30 11:30 a.m.): Sony has now confirmed next week’s big PS5 showcase for Thursday, June 4 at 1:00pm Pacific time.

Industry rumors are suggesting a big-time PlayStation 5 event is in the works for early next week, or June 3, 2020, to be exact. There has been no confirmation from Sony just yet, but one of these PS5 showcases almost certainly has to be on the way soon. We have seen the new DualSense controller, got a complete technical breakdown of the system specs, and even have a better idea of how PS4 games will be treated moving forward, but we still haven’t seen the actual console. Here’s to hoping Sony shows off its new beast and clears up some of the questions surrounding PS5 backward compatibility and more as soon as possible.

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