Exactly how Sony intends to approach backwards compatibility on the PlayStation 5 remains to be seen, and the fans are desperate to know more. We already know that some PlayStation 4 games will be supported - but exactly which ones and how soon after launch has been a bit of a mystery.
According to a now-deleted update on PlayStation Iceland's website, it sounds as if the next-gen console will support select PS4 games via a series of updates after launch. As spotted via Reddit, the recently updated official PS5 page in Iceland made reference to the fact that the console will allow users to "play a back catalog of supported PS4 games with system update".
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This specific sentence has since been removed from the site, but it suggests that Sony may be adopting an approach similar to the one Microsoft took with the Xbox One, making it so that a few older titles at a time will be available to play on PS5 through regular updates.
Of course, this kind of gives Microsoft an advantage when it comes to the Xbox Series X. Since the company spent all of this generation bringing Xbox and Xbox 360 games to Xbox One, the next-gen console is now able to launch with 1000s of titles. By comparison, the PS5 sounds like it's going to be playing catch-up for a while.
But it's not all bad. We previously heard from PlayStation architect Mark Cerny that the PS5 will support the "overwhelming majority" of PS4 games, and that hundreds had already been tested. Whether this means the console will launch with hundreds of PS4 games ready to play remains to be seen, but it certainly sounds as if system updates will be required to get the point where we can play through most of our current-gen library on the next-gen console.
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The latest rumours suggest that Sony is planning to finally share more news about the PS5 next week, so there's a chance we could learn more about its approach to playing older games then. However, I think we might need to accept that the idea of playing PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and original PlayStation games on the console is over. At least for a little while after launch, anyway.
That might be a shame, but I'm sure we can all look ahead to the single-player exclusives that Sony will (hopefully) start to announce in the coming months. I'd definitely much rather have God of War 2 over the ability to play the original Crash Bandicoot again. But that's just me.
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PS5, PlayStation, PS4