Sony Just Updated an Important Patent … And It Could Mean PS5 Will Be Backwards Compatible
On February 13th, Sony updated one of its patents. That may not sound like exciting news, but it takes on new meaning once you read the phrase, “Backward compatibility testing of software in a mode that disrupts timing.”
That’s right … backwards compatibility. Keep in mind this isn’t hard proof of PS5 being backwards compatible, but it does seem to imply Sony may be testing the feature.
Considering Jim Ryan said just last year that Sony wasn’t going to make any changes with regards to backwards compatibility, there is reason to be cautious interpreting the patent.
We can all remember when he told Time Magazine, “When we’ve dabbled with backwards compatibility, I can say it is one of those features that is much requested, but not actually used much,” Ryan told Time. “That, and I was at a Gran Turismo event recently where they had PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 games, and the PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?”
It is such a subjective and vague statement. What does “not actually used much” actually mean? As to the latter part of his statement, obviously that is just a personal opinion. It is actually pretty insulting to his company’s early history too. A lot of those PS1 and PS2 games were groundbreaking classics, and still beloved by many Sony fans. One would think that Ryan would at least recognize that.
Anyway, let’s just hope that the patent wording is a good sign, and that backwards compatibility is on the way for PS5! Some of us would love to play those “ancient” looking games again!