The PlayStation 5 launches in just a couple short days in North America, but of course, not everyone is on board just yet. Many are opting to stick with their current-gen consoles, but how long will that be an option? How long will major games continue to be released on both the PS4 and PS5? Quite a while according to Sony!
Japanese website AV Watch recently interviewed Sony Interactive Entertainment Vice President Hideaki Nishino, and according to him, we can expect PS4-PS5 crossgen titles to still be a thing into 2023 (translation provided by Google, with some light editing for clarity, so forgive any roughness)…
It may not be easy to develop PS5-specific development from Day 1. For the time being, development for PS4 is also necessary. It's not a PlayStation unless you prepare a system that developers can [exploit] over several years, so I think there is great potential in the future.
In terms of compatibility, it is important to get PS4 titles on PS5, but I have insisted that forward compatibility (supplying the same titles to PS5 as PS4) is important. The current assumption is that the transition from PS4 to PS5 will take about three years. In the meantime, how can I keep buying games on PS4? Can the purchased games be played on PS5? That is important. We ask developers to develop on the premise of "cross generation" of PS4 and PS5.
Before you get too worked up, this doesn’t mean that PS5 exclusives won’t exist – just that crossgen titles will continue to be a thing too. Demon’s Souls is PS5 exclusive, as is the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, but you can expect most big third-party games to be crossgen for at least a couple more years, and others, like sports games, will probably support the PS4 for even longer.
What do you think about the whole crossgen thing? Are you going to continue playing games on your PS4 for a while or is it time to tear the Band-Aid and get on with the next gen?
