Off the back of news that Sony will be holding aPlayStation 5event for new games next week, a surprising reveal was also made. The reveal has to do with Sony’s plans for PS4 games released between July and thePS5’s launch holiday 2020. According to a new report, Sony is requiring that all PS4 games released from July 13 on have built-in PS5 forward compatibility. As in, any PS4 games that gamers buy after mid-July will also run on PS5 if they eventually upgrade their console.
The report comes from Eurogamer, which sources an internal document from PlayStation’s partner website. The document tasks developers with confirming that their software is compatible with PS5 hardware. This can apparently be done through a test available on Sony’s PS4 devkits, so developers don’t needPS5 devkithardware to meet Sony’s expectations. Sony’s also said that it will work directly with developers to help them be compliant with the new PS5 compatibility requirements.
RELATED:PS5 Game Reveal Event Confirmed for Next Week
Games that have been submitted to Sony prior to July 13 do not have to meet this requirement. Sony’s even allowing them to receive continued patches and support without having to verifyPS5 compatibility. It’s only newly submitted games that Sony wants to guarantee work on PS5.
No official justification for the change is provided, but developers and fans can likely assume why. Sony, unlike Microsoft with Xbox, is fully pivoting to the PlayStation 5 this holiday season. That doesn’t mean that there won’t still bePS4 games, but Sony’s priority is getting its fans to purchase the new console. And part of that is ensuring that PS4 gamers will be able to transition to the new platform with all of the games they might be playing on the PS4 right now or in the coming several months.
It isn’t clear how challenging meetingSony’s new requirements will be for developers. Obviously, it’ll likely be much more frustrating for indie developers who may not have expected the additional requirements than it’ll be for larger developers who likely had the PS5 in their plans already. If some indie games skip the PS4 in the second half of 2020, that may be why.
For PlayStation fans looking toupgrade to the PS5, this is great news. It means that there should be a solid line-up of games available on PS5 at the game’s launch. Games that may not be launch titles, but that came out in recent months.
Expect more news regarding thePS5and Sony’s plans going forward in the months to come.
