Can You Play PS4 Games On PS5? Remarkable backward compatibility of PS5

You finally made up your mind to buy a PS5, but you might be thinking, can you play PS4 games on PS5? It is a genuine question that comes to mind before purchasing a new console because backward compatibility can open the door to thousands of excellent game titles launched on the PS4.

You will be able to play more than 99 percent of the PS4 games(4000+) with your PS5. As of now, only seven game PS4 game titles are not compatible with PS5. If you have many PS4 titles in physical disc format, we recommend investing in the PS5 standard version with a 4K Bluray disc drive.

You might be having an extensive collection of your favorite PS4 games, or you want to try out some PS4 games like God Of War, Uncharted 4 on your PS5, so you might be thinking will the PS4 games run better on PS5? and which PS4 games are not compatible with PS5, we will talk more about this but first let’s talk about the PS5 backward compatibility. 

Can you play PS4 games on PS5? Digital and Standard Edition of PS5 compared.

PlayStation 5 is the latest PlayStation console offered by Sony, and one massive announcement regarding the PS5 was the backward compatibility; more than 4,000 PlayStation 4 games can be played on the PlayStation 5 as well; this makes for 99% of all the PS4 games. You don’t need to repurchase your favorite games.

Please note that Sony has launched PS5 in two versions: a Standard PS5 with 4K Bluray disc drive and a digital-only version, so if you are deciding on buying either one, read on for backward compatibility of both. 

PS5 with 4K Bluray disc drive

• You can take out any of your physical PS4 game discs and insert them into the PS5 disc drive to play on your PS5 console; the game may ask for an update before playing on your PS5.
• You will also be able to play digital versions of your PS4 games. Again, the game may ask for an update before playing on your PS5.

PS5 Digital only edition

• There is no disc drive on the digital edition of PS5, so you won’t be able to play your physical PS4 game disc.
• Like the standard edition, you will also be able to play the digital version of your PS4 games. Again, the game may ask for an update before playing on your PS5.

If you have many PS4 titles in physical disc-based format, we recommend investing in the PS5 with a 4K Bluray disc drive. Also, in the long run, the disc drive in the standard PS5 edition can save you some money because, just like the sale for digital editions of the game, many deals come for physical disks as well. Also, sharing your games with your friends becomes very easy with physical discs. 

Which PS4 games are not compatible with PS5?

Although most PS4 titles are compatible with PS5, some games are PS4 only and won’t play on your PS5. Following is the list of games that are not compatible with PS5:

• Hitman Go: Definitive Edition
• Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One
• TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2
• Shadwen
• Just Deal With It!
• We Sing
• Robinson: The Journey

Will the PS4 games run better on PS5?

PS5 uses superfast SSD to load games faster on the console, so for increased loading speeds, ensure that your games are installed on the PS5 internal hard disk; however, you can also use an external hard disk to install your games, but then they will not benefit from increasing loading speeds.

Some of the PS4 games will also experience these increased loading speeds on the PS5 console and also take advantage of the Game Boost, which provides better and more stable frame rates. 

Can you play physical PS4 discs on a PS5?

As discussed above, Sony has launched PS5 in two versions: a Standard PS5 with 4K Bluray disc drive and a digital-only version. You can play your physical PS4 discs only on PS5 with a 4K Bluray disc drive; by simply inserting them into the PS5 disc drive, the game may ask for an update before playing on your PS5. On the other hand, there is no disc drive on the PS5 Digital only edition, so you won’t be able to play your physical PS4 game disc on the digital only edition.

Can you play PS1/PS2/PS3 games on PS5?

PS5 is not backward compatible with PS1/PS2/PS3, and you won’t be able to play their respective games on PS5. That being said, Sony might update this in the future, and if they do, we will keep you posted. Sony has remastered some of the PS3 games, such as God of War 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and many more for the PS4. So you will be able to play these remastered games on your PS5 as well.  

There is also one workaround to play some previous-gen PlayStation games on the PS5, using PlayStation Now on the PS5. PlayStation Now is a streaming service from Sony that allows you to stream PS4, PS3, and PS2 games instantly on a PS5, PS4, or PC. You can read about it in more detail at What is PlayStation Now subscription and should I get it? Sony constantly adds new titles to its library of games and updates the existing ones. You can find PS Now’s complete list of current games at the PS Now Games List.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which PS4 games will you try first on your PS5, and let us know in the comments below how your experience was with smoother frame rates?