Jim Ryan Confirms PlayStation 5 Will not Be Backwards Compatible with PS3, PS2, and PS1

In an article from Famitsu, which was translated via Ars Technica, PlayStation’s Jim Ryan confirmed that the PlayStation 5 would not be natively backwards compatible with the PlayStation 3, 2, and 1.

While this isn’t a huge surprise and has been pretty much assumed at this point, it’s still a bummer to hear that playing older games is simply not a high priority for Sony.

“PS5-specific engineering” meant the design team was mostly focused on “the simultaneous use of high-speed SSDs and the new DualSense controller,” says Ryan.

While I’m sure this was a top priority for PlayStation 5, it certainly comes as a disappointment to many fans hoping to dust off their old PlayStation 2 games finally. When it comes to backwards compatibility Sony has stumbled quite a lot, while Microsoft pushes its backward compatible lineup.

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Currently, the only way to play PlayStation 2 and 3 games are either through the subscription service PlayStation Now, or a handful of games that are available to purchase on the PSN store.

There is also no current word on if any of those purchased games will even come along to the PlayStation 5 so you might want to hold on to your PS4 for a bit.

Jim Ryan did say that 99% of your PS4 games will work on PlayStation 5, so that’s something. It’s the bare minimum, but it’s something. 

Sony also announced a new PlayStation Plus benefit coming at the launch of the PS5, which it is calling the “PlayStation Collection.” This gives PlayStation Plus subscribers a collection of acclaimed PS4 titles like God of War, Bloodborne, and many others for free.

You can download these games and play them as long as you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber. Of course, this doesn’t rectify not having any form of backwards compatibility, but it helps soften the blow a tiny bit.

If you happen to purchase the digital version of the PS5, it doesn’t seem like there will be a way for you to play your physical PlayStation 4 discs on it. Better get that disc drive if you plan on playing any of those games.

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What do you think about all of this? Do you want more backward compatibility options? Let us know on the official Prima Games Twitter and Facebook pages.