Rumor: Sony is planning Backward Compatibility for PS5 allowing you to play all previous console games

Backward Compatibility for PS5

PlayStation 5 concept art

It has been years now that fans, and the gaming community in general, have asked for backward compatibility feature on current gen consoles. This much asked for feature never even came close to a possibility much alone being implemented because of several keys reasons. Sony has managed to steer clear of this feature for years now but maybe finally it is going to change its stance. We have reason to suspect that Backward Compatibility for PS5 is a possibility.

Sony might be planning Backward Compatibility for PS5

This rumor arose primarily because of a patent that Sony has filled for which sounds an awful lot like backward compatibility. The patent in question was filed back in 2016 and was published this year, however, it just recently caught the attention of people. Let’s see what the description of the patent, titled “Remastering by emulation”, entails below

Each asset such as a texture called for by legacy software such as a legacy computer game software has a unique identifier associated with it. The unique identifier can be rendered by imposing a hash on the asset, and then the asset stored with its identifier in a data structure. An artist remasters the textures for presentation on a higher resolution display than envisioned in the original software, and stores them back in the data structure with their identifiers. The original software is then played on the higher resolution display, with asset (such as texture) calls being intercepted, identified, and the data structure entered to retrieve the remastered asset having a matching identifier. The remastered asset is then inserted on the fly into the game presentation.

Many gamers and other enthusiasts believe this to be hinting towards backward compatibility. The description above, although highly technical gives us an explanation of a possible feature whereby older games with “low resolution” can be made so that they can work on higher resolution screens. If you ask us it potentially gives us the backward compatibility vibe and we could be wrong since no official statement has been released by Sony but as with all rumors, it is mostly speculation at this point.

Since the next Sony console would be the PlayStation 5, it is reasonable to think that if Sony ever planned on adding this feature then the next console would be the most likely one to contain it. Also, the Xbox One is highly regarded by gamers in this regard because of its massive support for Xbox 360 games and the original Xbox. If anything, this is the time for Sony to implement this feature and attract new customers who would want to play their library of older PS games on their new console.

However, it is still early to tell how backward compatible the PS5 will be even if this feature is implemented. It may be that games from all previous consoles would be supported or maybe only those from PS3 and PS4 would be supported. No one Knows for certain right now.

As always we must ask you to take this with a pinch of salt when new info appears we will update you but for now, this is all we have to work with.

Leave us a comment below and tell us what you make of the Patent.

 

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