Earlier this month, Sony filed patent that may have suggested that their upcoming next-gen console, the PlayStation 5, would have backwards compatibility. While the last report didn’t confirm fully confirm it, another new patent was recently discovered, and this one looks like it will more or less confirm that the system will indeed have the desired feature.
It also helps that this one explicitly states backwards compatibility in the title which reads “Simulation of legacy bus operation for backward compatibility” which is a huge indication for the feature. The patent itself was registered around the same time as the first one, but wasn’t published until this week. The “Bus Operation” that is mentioned in the title is a method which emulates the internal communications of any legacy systems, or older PlayStation hardware and software.
The patent also mentions the ability to adjust the performance level of said technology, which could lead to more digitally remastered versions of older games. Microsoft already does this with their Xbox One console, where they emulate their Xbox 360 titles, and sometimes their original Xbox titles as well. With all of this information, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the PlayStation 5 will feature backwards compatibility. Even if Sony doesn’t officially say anything until they decide to reveal it, the signs are all over the place. It’s almost unacceptable by today’s standards to not include the feature in newer systems, as Microsoft and Nintendo have shown in one form or another, nostalgia wins every time.
The PlayStation 5 has been a talking point since Sony decided not to attend this years E3. At the beginning of this year, Sony’s first party developers were reportedly changing their focus to develop games for the upcoming system. Along with the recent rumor of Microsoft announcing the next-gen Xbox at this years E3, it seems that the focus of this Spring/Summer will be about the next-gen systems.