Sony has filed a patent, suggesting that the upcoming PlayStation 5 will be compatible with all previous PS consoles dating back to the PlayStation 1 in 1995.
Fans were disappointed by the PlayStation 4's lack of backward compatibility, so it wouldn't be surprising if it was one of the company's top priorities for the new console.
According to reports, the patent was designed by PlayStation 4 chief technical officer Mark Cerny and would theoretically allow the PlayStation 5 to run software from legacy devices, helping it effectively "trick" games into thinking they are being processed by the appropriate console.
The method is called "processor ID spoofing" and involves emulating older hardware.
It's well known that the PlayStation 3's hardware is particularly difficult to work with, which is likely why Sony didn't include the compatibility feature on the PlayStation 4.
It is linked to a patent filed by Sony in 2016 that describes technology for automatically improving the quality of older games when played on a newer system.
A blog postprovides more detailed information and diagrams about the patent in Japanese. The omens are good, but unfortunately the fact that Sony has filed for the patent does not mean that it will actually make it happen. However, hope always dies last.
The PS5 is expected to cost around $500 (just over 443 euros) and could be released as early as Christmas 2019, although 2020 is more likely.
