PS5 News: Sony Patents PS5 with Backwards Compatibility, Has Plans for Games & More

It seems like every day we are inching closer towards a PS5 release. Although Sony has not confirmed any official information, we are getting insights from different communities as well as game analysts such as Daniel Ahmad.

Sony's first console, the PlayStation was released in 1994. The PS2 was released 6 years later in 2000, the PS3 in 2006 and the PS4 in 2013. There was a 6-7 year gap between the release of all consoles. Although we can't expect it anytime this year, the PS5's release will probably be the longest gap between the generation of consoles. We can expect a release in the 2020s, but we can probably get information before that.

Sony has registered a patent (it's in Japanese) which according to this Reddit post, is a hardware patent that will allow the PS5 to have backward compatibility with the PS4, PS3, PS2 and PSX. This is only information that is deciphered from the patent alone, so it can't be confirmed if it is true. But if true, that would make Sony the true king in the console wars.

Sony has already been doing remarkably well in terms of sales and trumping Microsoft and Nintendo. According to a post on Resetera from Daniel Ahmed, Sony is discussing the development and release of existing IPs for the PS4, but there are also talks for porting these unannounced games in the PS5.

Bringing backward compatibility will put Sony skyrocketing ahead of Nintendo and Microsoft. It seems like in the mid to early 2000s, most consoles decided to stop doing backward compatibility. So you had to own the console of the game if you wanted it. This allowed for developers to push remakes so that they can sell better. It does make sense from a business perspective, but bringing back backward compatibility can really help a newer set of players purchase older games.