PS5: Why are PS3, PS2 and PS1 games not working? Sony comments

Backward compatibility has been a key issue for console gamers for many years now. Microsoft, in the outgoing generation, has been very active on the issue and, with the arrival of the Xbox Series X, is able to promise backward compatibility for a large list of games of all generations. Sony, on the other hand, confirmed the backward compatibility of PS5 only with the PS4 catalog. Why are PS3, PS2 and PS1 games not working?

The closest thing to an answer came recently via the PS Blog. Sony, signed by Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President of Platform Planning & Management, commented in the following words: “We are focused on the huge catalog of games for PlayStation 4 and we are happy to announce that more than 99% of the titles for PS4 will be playable on PS5 from day one. "

In other words, Sony has preferred to prioritize PS4 games and not those of previous generations. Of course, there is the (paid) option to take advantage of PS Now to play various PS3 and PS2 titles. Unfortunately, even without considering that it is a paid feature, the catalog of the service is rather limited when it comes to older games (it does not include any PS1 titles, especially).

Probably for many it is a limit more than ignorable: many PS5 buyers may also have never owned the old consoles, for personal reasons. A new generation is mostly needed to play new generation games, but "losing" access to old video games or being forced not to sell old consoles in order to continue using their games is certainly not the most welcome choice.

We hope Sony will expand backwards compatibility in the future or include most of the older generation titles on PS Now to enhance it even more.

Sony also commented on switching PS4 save data to PS5.

You can find PS5 on Amazon Italy.