Is the PS5 backwards compatible with PS2, PS3, and PS4 games?

playstation 5 hardware

Understandably, one of the biggest questions about PlayStation’s latest console is whether or not it will be compatible with PS4 games. Although we don’t know how much exactly the PS5 is going to cost, it’s definitely not going to be cheap. So it makes sense that gamers want to know whether the PS5 will provide extra value by being backwards compatible with PS4 games.

Plus, there are a lot of fantastic games for the PS4. For someone who’s never owned a PlayStation console, backwards compatibility with the PS4 is a huge factor to consider before buying a PS5.

PlayStation is constantly releasing new information as we get closer to release, so the jury’s still out on some things. But read on for everything we know so far!

Will the PS5 be backwards compatible?

The short answer is YES! The PS5 will eventually have backwards compatibility with over 4,000 PS4 games. Sony is trying to go through each individual title with the developers and publishers to ensure that each game can be played seamlessly on the new console. Although they have quite a large library of games to go through, Sony seems confident that they can get the job done.

Although not all 4,000 PS4 titles are slated to be compatible with the PS5 initially, Sony’s previously stated goal is to have the top 100 games from the PS4 compatible by the PS5 launch date. They determined the top 100 games on PS4 by how much time was spent playing them by players across the world.

Thankfully, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan told the Washington Post on September 16 that “99%” of PS4 games can be played on the PS5. In other words, it certainly sounds like they’re way ahead of their goal if all these titles can be played at launch.

Sony has previously stated that PS4 games played on the PS5 console will be improved by increased frame rates and a higher resolution. So all the games we know and love on the PS4 will be getting a face lift for the PS5.

List of PS4 games that will be backwards compatible with the PS5

Mark Cerny, the lead architect for the PS5, initially confirmed that almost 100 of the most-played titles on the PS4 will be compatible with the PS5 at launch. But he didn’t specify exactly which games those would be.

We can only assume that the titles below will be part of that list. If you’re wondering whether your favorite game will be included, check out a list of the most popular or most-played titles on the PS4 and you can get a pretty good idea of what should be compatible. Ryan’s “99%” figure also suggests that many obscure or cult PS4 favorites will work.

Red Dead Redemption 2
God of War
Horizon Zero Dawn
Overwatch
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Spider-Man
Persona 5
Ghosts of Tsushima
The Last of Us (Parts 1 & 2)
Control
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Borderlands 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Monster Hunter: World
Death Stranding

Will previous PS consoles be backwards compatible with the PS5?

If you’re wondering whether PS3/PS2 games will have backwards compatibility with the PS5, the answer is sort of. Physical disc versions of PS2 and PS3 games are not known to be backwards compatible right now with the PS5, though that could change with future news from Sony Interactive.

However, PlayStation Now, or PS Now, will be coming to the PS5. PlayStation Now is a cloud-based streaming service by PlayStation that allows you to pick and choose which games you want to play across multiple generations of PlayStation consoles. Think of it as Netflix, just with PlayStation games. Some games stay on there for what seems like forever, and some games expire after only a year of being on there.

It’s unclear right now how much the service will cost on the Sony PlayStation 5 – will the price stay at $9.99 a month or will it increase? But it is confirmed that PS Now is definitely coming to the PS5. So there will be select games from the PS2 and PS3 eras that you can play on the PS5.

Will PS5 games work on PS4?

No, unfortunately not. PS5 games are optimized specifically for the updated internal hardware of the PS5. So they won’t be compatible with the PS4’s internal hardware.

PS5 games will work seamlessly with the increased SSD speed, ray tracing, and 4K resolution that comes along with the PS5. All of that technological goodness means that the PS5 games will look great on the PS5 console, but just can’t function with the hardware components of the PS4.

Check out: Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X: what we know about each, and how they compare