PS4 games on PS5: Your top questions answered

[Ghost]

Details on backward compatibility, how Game Boost enhances select PS4 titles, and more.

 

Quote

When the PlayStation 5 launches this November, more than 99 percent of the 4000+ games available on PS4 will be playable on PS5. We know you have questions about how PS4 games will work on PS5, so here is a quick overview on some common questions we’ve seen from the PlayStation community.

What console generation games are supported with PS5’s backward compatibility feature?

We are focused on the huge catalog of games on PlayStation 4, and we’re pleased that more than 99% of PS4 games will be playable on PS5 on day one. This includes games that have defined the PS4 generation – from critically acclaimed PlayStation exclusives like The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima, to blockbuster hits from our third-party partners.

What is the difference between playing PS4 games on the PS5 Digital Edition console, versus the PS5 console with the Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive?

The gaming experience on both models will be the same. However, how you access the content to play will differ:

 

PS5 Digital Edition

• You will be able to play digital versions of your compatible PS4 games on the PS5 Digital Edition console. These will be compatible PS4 digital games you have already purchased, or plan to purchase, via PlayStation Store on PS4, PS5, web or PlayStation mobile app.
• Since there is no disc drive, you won’t be able to play your PS4 disc-based games on the PS5 Digital Edition.

 

PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive

• You can play digital versions of your compatible PS4 games you downloaded from PlayStation Store on PS4, PS5, web or PlayStation mobile app.
• You can also use physical PS4 game discs.

 

When you sign in to PS5 with your account for PlayStation Network, you will automatically see your library of played PS4 content through the menu.

Be sure to keep the PS5 console updated to the latest system software update available, and apply all available game patches to the game.

What is the PS4 game experience like on PS5?

PS4 titles get even better on PS5. Select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds on the PS5 console, and will also leverage Game Boost, offering improved or more stable frame rates. Some titles with unlocked frame rates or dynamic resolution up to 4K may see higher fidelity. Additionally, PS4 games will also take advantage of some of PS5’s new UX features, but more to come on that later.

Are games from PlayStation VR backward compatible?

Yes, PlayStation VR games are included among the thousands of PS4 games that are playable on PS5. Please note that playing PS VR games on a PS5 console requires a PS VR headset, DualShock 4 wireless controller or PlayStation Move controller(s), and PS Camera (for PS4), which are sold separately from the PS5 console. Also, the PS5 HD Camera is not compatible with PS VR on PS5. You’ll need to use the PS Camera (for PS4), and the PS Camera adaptor (no purchase required), to use PS VR on PS5.

What about PS4 games on PS Now and PS Plus?

Backward compatible PS4 games included in PS Plus or PS Now will run on PS5.

Can I stream PS4 games on PS5?

Yes, Remote Play from PS4 to PS5 and PS Now streaming are supported. The benefit of streaming is that you can save your storage space on PS5. Please note that PS4 games will not leverage PS5’s Game Boost through streaming.

How do PS4 game transfers and game saves work between the two consoles?

You can transfer digital games, game data, and game saves from a PS4 console to a PS5 console using LAN cables, or by connecting wirelessly (WiFi). If you’ve already stored PS4 games and game data in the external USB storage device connected to your PS4, you can bring them over to PS5 with that external USB storage device. And if you are a PS Plus member, you can also sync PS4 game saves on PS5 through cloud storage.

Please note that the ability to transfer game saves between a PS4 version and a PS5 version of the same game is a developer decision, and will vary title by title for cross-generational games.

 

For Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, when players decide to upgrade from PS4 to PS5 their game saves will transfer.* Sackboy: A Big Adventure also will support game save transfers from PS4 to PS5 in an update that will be delivered shortly after the release of the game.* We’ll share additional details on both games closer to launch.

How will I know which PS4 games aren’t playable?

Games that are only playable on PS4 will be noted on PlayStation Store as playable on “PS4 only.” We have a list of games that are only playable on PS4, along with additional information on backward compatibility here: playstation.com/ps5-backwards-compatibility

 

*If players originally purchase a PS4 game disc, the PlayStation 5 with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive is required to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version of the game and transfer their saves over.

 

https://blog.playstation.com/2020/10/09/ps4-games-on-ps5-your-top-questions-answered/

Edited October 9, 2020 by Ghost

[Undead Wolf]

Posted this in another thread, but I guess I'll put it here too since this is about the PlayStation Blog post specifically.

The part that stood out to me the most was this:



Especially the bit that mentions how "select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds". Why wouldn't *all* PS4 games have increased loading speeds on the PS5 by default? I mean if they're installed on the PS5's SSD, the only way they wouldn't be faster is if Sony was intentionally slowing them down. Very disappointing if true because this was one of the features I was most excited about. Besides that, it seems like we won't have any control over the "Game Boost", meaning only certain PS4 games will take advantage of the extra power. Both increased performance and faster loading times is something the Xbox Series X seems to do for every backwards compatible title, so I don't see why it should be any different for PS5.

[DaivRules]

3 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

Especially the bit that mentions how "select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds". Why wouldn't *all* PS4 games have increased loading speeds on the PS5 by default? I mean if they're installed on the PS5's SSD, the only way they wouldn't be faster is if Sony was intentionally slowing them down. Very disappointing if true because this was one of the features I was most excited about.

 

There are multiple different ways to call code in programming. If the PS4 games were coded to allow asynchronous data access, then the PS5 will allow that to happen at full speed. If the developer didn't use async in their programming, well they did wrong. This has nothing to do with Sony slowing down games.

[LightningBreath_]

8 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Please note that the ability to transfer game saves between a PS4 version and a PS5 version of the same game is a developer decision, and will vary title by title for cross-generational games.

 

[ONUOsFan]

7 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

 

There are multiple different ways to call code in programming. If the PS4 games were coded to allow asynchronous data access, then the PS5 will allow that to happen at full speed. If the developer didn't use async in their programming, well they did wrong. This has nothing to do with Sony slowing down games.

 

Is that to do with the multiple channels, though? Even if it can only use one channel on the controller, that should still be faster than the PS4 HDD.

[DaivRules]

2 minutes ago, LightningBreath_ said:

 

 

In case you read that wrong, that doesn't say when you play a PS4 game on a PS5, your loading of your save is up to developers. That says if a developer releases a PS4 version and a separate PS5 version, it's up to them to allow the save to be share between titles.

Just now, ONUOsFan said:

 

Is that to do with the multiple channels, though? Even if it can only use one channel on the controller, that should still be faster than the PS4 HDD.

 

The channel will still be faster, but not the same thing as the speed boosts we're talking about.
 

If I program a game to show a bouncing ball and on a background. I can program a game to show a background first, then after it's done, show the bouncing ball. That's synchronous. If I instead program the ball to not wait for the background to load, that's asynchronous. The ball and background load at the same time, and neither waits for the other to finish before they start.

[ONUOsFan]

3 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

The channel will still be faster, but not the same thing as the speed boosts we're talking about.
 

If I program a game to show a bouncing ball and on a background. I can program a game to show a background first, then after it's done, show the bouncing ball. That's synchronous. If I instead program the ball to not wait for the background to load, that's asynchronous. The ball and background load at the same time, and neither waits for the other to finish before they start.

Makes sense. Thanks!

[DiabloXIIIofWar]

I want to know if PS4 demos are gonna work on PS5 since some PS4 demos (Zanki Zero, Danganronpa V3) give you unique items for completing the demo and transfering your save to the full game.

[Cryogenicide_X]

21 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

Posted this in another thread, but I guess I'll put it here too since this is about the PlayStation Blog post specifically.

The part that stood out to me the most was this:



Especially the bit that mentions how "select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds". Why wouldn't *all* PS4 games have increased loading speeds on the PS5 by default? I mean if they're installed on the PS5's SSD, the only way they wouldn't be faster is if Sony was intentionally slowing them down. Very disappointing if true because this was one of the features I was most excited about. Besides that, it seems like we won't have any control over the "Game Boost", meaning only certain PS4 games will take advantage of the extra power. Both increased performance and faster loading times is something the Xbox Series X seems to do for every backwards compatible title, so I don't see why it should be any different for PS5.

Because it requires either developer input or input by Sony. It's different on Xbox Series X because the console itself takes care of everything on the hardware side. 

[R4M_Noskillzpro]

26 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

Posted this in another thread, but I guess I'll put it here too since this is about the PlayStation Blog post specifically.

The part that stood out to me the most was this:



Especially the bit that mentions how "select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds". Why wouldn't *all* PS4 games have increased loading speeds on the PS5 by default? I mean if they're installed on the PS5's SSD, the only way they wouldn't be faster is if Sony was intentionally slowing them down. Very disappointing if true because this was one of the features I was most excited about. Besides that, it seems like we won't have any control over the "Game Boost", meaning only certain PS4 games will take advantage of the extra power. Both increased performance and faster loading times is something the Xbox Series X seems to do for every backwards compatible title, so I don't see why it should be any different for PS5.

All games on XSX don’t have increased performance. Games which do not have a frame rate cap end up running at 60 fps in most cases on XSX. If a game is locked to 30 fps doesn’t mean it will automatically run at 60 fps on XSX. And if it is running at 60 fps that is mostly because either Microsoft BC team or the devs have had to add the 60 fps mode to that 30 fps game. 

4 minutes ago, Cryogenicide_X said:

Because it requires either developer input or input by Sony. It's different on Xbox Series X because the console itself takes care of everything on the hardware side. 

No even Microsoft has a team which works on BC games and adds 60 fps mode and so on. XSX cannot just automatically run a locked 30 fps game at 60 fps. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Noskillzpro407

[LightningBreath_]

8 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

In case you read that wrong, that doesn't say when you play a PS4 game on a PS5, your loading of your save is up to developers. That says if a developer releases a PS4 version and a separate PS5 version, it's up to them to allow the save to be share between titles.

 

Yeah, that's pretty obvious to understand, I was pointing on the fact that it's now completely up to the developers and I'm hoping the majority of them if not all don't release a separate ps5 version without the ability to carry over your save files because that will most likely include a separate trophy list which some people might abuse depending on the game.

 

33 minutes ago, Ghost said:

For Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, when players decide to upgrade from PS4 to PS5 their game saves will transfer.* Sackboy: A Big Adventure also will support game save transfers from PS4 to PS5 in an update that will be delivered shortly after the release of the game.* We’ll share additional details on both games closer to launch.

 

SIE already decided to allow save files carry over to some of their games, I'm hoping the other developers will follow this. 

[Cryogenicide_X]

6 minutes ago, Noskillzpro407 said:

All games on XSX don’t have increased performance. Games which do not have a frame rate cap end up running at 60 fps in most cases on XSX. If a game is locked to 30 fps doesn’t mean it will automatically run at 60 fps on XSX. And if it is running at 60 fps that is mostly because either Microsoft BC team or the devs have had to add the 60 fps mode to that 30 fps game. 

No even Microsoft has a team which works on BC games and adds 60 fps mode and so on. XSX cannot just automatically run a locked 30 fps game at 60 fps. 

Did you watch Digital Foundry video on Xbox Series X? Because every game they tested even Xbox 360 games were enhanced and they weren't even optimised for Series X. It was the the Series X doing it on it's own. 

[Undead Wolf]

9 minutes ago, Noskillzpro407 said:

All games on XSX don’t have increased performance. Games which do not have a frame rate cap end up running at 60 fps in most cases on XSX. If a game is locked to 30 fps doesn’t mean it will automatically run at 60 fps on XSX. And if it is running at 60 fps that is mostly because either Microsoft BC team or the devs have had to add the 60 fps mode to that 30 fps game. 

 

Yes, I know older Xbox games running on the Series X that have a frame rate cap won't exceed that limit without the input from Microsoft's BC team or the developers themselves. I never said 30fps games will automatically run at 60fps on Series X. It will however help those games run more consistently at the intended frame rate if it had issues on the native console, so the point still stands. 

[R4M_Noskillzpro]

15 minutes ago, Cryogenicide_X said:

Did you watch Digital Foundry video on Xbox Series X? Because every game they tested even Xbox 360 games were enhanced and they weren't even optimised for Series X. It was the the Series X doing it on it's own. 

And the PS5 should be able to load games quickly on its own as well. And when it comes to performance, the XSX just cannot run 30 fps games at 60 fps without input from the dev or Microsoft. The same goes for PS5. Ghost of Tsushima will be getting a 60 fps mode after devs have implemented it. And games with an unlocked frame rate should be able to hit 60 fps on PS5 just like the XSX.

15 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

Yes, I know older Xbox games running on the Series X that have a frame rate cap won't exceed that limit without the input from Microsoft's BC team or the developers themselves. I never said 30fps games will automatically run at 60fps on Series X. It will however help those games run more consistently at the intended frame rate if it had issues on the native console, so the point still stands. 

The PS5 can do the same there. God of War for example will probably hit consistent 60 fps because it has an unlocked fps mode. 

[Undead Wolf]

6 minutes ago, Noskillzpro407 said:

The PS5 can do the same there. God of War for example will probably hit consistent 60 fps because it has an unlocked fps mode. 

 

From the sounds of it, that will only be the case for games that support this "Game Boost". I'm sure God of War will since it's huge a first party title, but what about lesser known titles? I'm under the impression that most PS4 games will run in a PS4/PS4 Pro compatibility mode on the PS5 that just emulate the specs of that hardware, and in that case, I don't see how we would see performance benefits.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Undead Wolf

[Cryogenicide_X]

2 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

From the sounds of it, that will only be the case for games that support this "Game Boost". I'm sure God of War will since it's huge a first party title, but what about lesser known titles? I'm under the impression that most PS4 games will run in a PS4/PS4 Pro compatibility mode on the PS5 that just emulate the specs of that hardware, and in that case, I don't see how we would see performance benefits.

I know how you feel. All PS4 games on PS5 should be enhanced simply because there running on more powerful hardware. 

[DaivRules]

38 minutes ago, Cryogenicide_X said:

Because it requires either developer input or input by Sony.

It doesn’t actually. Sony optimized the code execution and the physical hardware of the PS5 to execute certain code loading so fast. If developers used those coding practices, it’ll work. It doesn’t require input. 

Just now, Cryogenicide_X said:

I know how you feel. All PS4 games on PS5 should be enhanced simply because there running on more powerful hardware. 

They will. They just might not have the instant load of some games. 

[hayesb]

This recent blog post literally answered my questions about if I'm able to play my PS4 digital library on the PS5, looks like I'll be able to part ways with my PS4!

[Beyondthegrave07]

As long as HZD load times are better, I can get behind the fact that not all games will have increased loading times. If I play it late at night, I swear I could fall asleep in my chair before it's done loading. Haha.

 

Interesting read though. Makes me feel better about the transition, but I probably won't be getting a PS5 anytime soon.

[AlphaExGAT]

That would mean some of these developers need to answer some questions because it looked liked cross-save maybe was a Sony issue but this seem to say otherwise(unless im not reading this correctly lol).

Edited October 9, 2020 by AlphaExGAT

[arcanehornet_]

This definitely makes me way more excited for PS5. I can sell my PS4 and play all my games right there in the new system

[Akrioz]

13 hours ago, Cryogenicide_X said:

Did you watch Digital Foundry video on Xbox Series X?

DF have specifically selected titles that allow for unlocked framerate or titles struggling to achieve a locked 30/60. Like Hitman 2, for example.

[Infected Elite]

46 minutes ago, arcanehornet_ said:

This definitely makes me way more excited for PS5. I can sell my PS4 and play all my games right there in the new system

id keep the ps4 anyway, free real estate. Install some games on the ps4, some on the ps5.

i know ill install Cold Steel 4 (if i havent beaten it at that point), and Persona 5 Royal, and Ys MoC onto my ps5. But any other ps4 backlog i have ill just put onto the ps4.  Keeps space divided in a way until we get a clear indication on expandable drives and more companies dish them out.

[Golem25]

Oh fugg, I have a Yakuza 0 save file with dozens of hours sunk into it; if that game won't support save file transfer to PS5 (I don't have a PS4, just the USB stick with my data from when I borrowed my brother's PS4), I am boned. That might actually make me sell on my PS5 to a friend and settle for a PS4 initially. Fingers crossed.

 

I imagine the ability to upload saves from a PS4 version to a PS5 version is at least partially dependent on whether they share a multiplatform Trophy list. Yakuza Like A Dragon won't support transfers, for one, so I imagine both have their own endemic list.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Golem25

[Rexarma1]

2 hours ago, LegacyJKO09 said:

id keep the ps4 anyway, free real estate. Install some games on the ps4, some on the ps5.

i know ill install Cold Steel 4 (if i havent beaten it at that point), and Persona 5 Royal, and Ys MoC onto my ps5. But any other ps4 backlog i have ill just put onto the ps4.  Keeps space divided in a way until we get a clear indication on expandable drives and more companies dish them out.

But why. A lot of games will run smoother on the PS5. If a game supports variable framerate on the PS4 Pro then you can definietely expect 60FPS or maybe even in some cases 120FPS when your TV supports HDMI 2.1. Also a quieter gaming experience due to a better cooling system and faster loading times if you install the game on the SSD. It's completely nonsense to play a game with worse performance if you have the option to play the improved version of it.

And in terms of storage, if you really don't want to delete games all the time, you can still purchase an external HDD for your PS4 library and use the SSD solely for PS5 games.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Rexarma1