I thought the backwards compatibility for both PS4 and PS3 were based on specific software patents. Of course, PS4 backwards compatibility can be inferred just from the PS5 sharing quite a bit in common in terms of architecture (not just X86, but unified memory and other aspects as well). Not having backwards compatibility with PS4 would represent a major weakness compared to the next Xbox and PC platforms.
This is especially important given how well these games are going to hold up for various reasons. After all, everything photorealistic will still use PBR as the theoretical lighting model, unlocking the framerate can give PS4 games new life and give them some advantage over certain PS5 titles in that aspect, and a full 2160p will provide a better experience when compared with checkerboarding on the PS4 Pro. The jump between PS4 games with a high framerate and good image quality compared to PS5 games targeting 60 FPS isn't likely to be very pronounced during the early years of PS5, so if the next Xbox allows you to enjoy the same third party games with those kinds of improvements and PS5 doesn't, it's gonna' be rough going unless the next generation of games come out at a record pace.
Of course, given the architectural similarities and the availability of higher quality assets and rendering techniques from PC, it will be all the easier for third parties to quickly rerelease their games for PS5 with targeted enhancements. This will probably be more common than it was with the PS4 since Steam wasn't quite as big when the PS4 launched, but now it's fairly uncommon to see console exclusives that aren't artificially exclusive through some kind of partnership. So maybe backwards compatibility really won't be as necessary as it feels right now, even if it feels like a certainty at this point.
This is especially important given how well these games are going to hold up for various reasons. After all, everything photorealistic will still use PBR as the theoretical lighting model, unlocking the framerate can give PS4 games new life and give them some advantage over certain PS5 titles in that aspect, and a full 2160p will provide a better experience when compared with checkerboarding on the PS4 Pro. The jump between PS4 games with a high framerate and good image quality compared to PS5 games targeting 60 FPS isn't likely to be very pronounced during the early years of PS5, so if the next Xbox allows you to enjoy the same third party games with those kinds of improvements and PS5 doesn't, it's gonna' be rough going unless the next generation of games come out at a record pace.
Of course, given the architectural similarities and the availability of higher quality assets and rendering techniques from PC, it will be all the easier for third parties to quickly rerelease their games for PS5 with targeted enhancements. This will probably be more common than it was with the PS4 since Steam wasn't quite as big when the PS4 launched, but now it's fairly uncommon to see console exclusives that aren't artificially exclusive through some kind of partnership. So maybe backwards compatibility really won't be as necessary as it feels right now, even if it feels like a certainty at this point.
Last edited:
