Will PS5 Games Play on PS4?

Will PS5 games play on PS4? Can you play your new PS5 games on your PS4 console? You might be wondering if Sony plans to make its PS5 games compatible with PS4. As part of our PS5 guide, we're going to answer this question right here.

Microsoft has been making a big deal out of the fact that any Xbox Series X games it makes in the next couple of years will also be playable on Xbox One. This is part of its Smart Delivery scheme, in which certain Xbox games will work across both platforms, and you'll be playing the best possible version depending on what hardware you're using. Similarly, certain PS4 games you own will upgrade to the PS5 version for free — for more information on this, check this guide: PS4 to PS5: All Games with Confirmed Free Upgrades.

Will PS5 Games Play on PS4?

The short answer is: no, games designed for PS5 will not play on PS4. Unlike Microsoft, which plans to make Xbox Series X games compatible with Xbox One, Sony's PS5 games will be designed specifically for the next-gen console, and so won't work on PS4. You can find a full list of All PS5 Announced Games and All PS5 First-Party Exclusives through the links.

That's not to say there won't be cross-gen games. There are already many confirmed games that are coming to both PS5 and PS4, such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, and Cyberpunk 2077. Games like these are getting both PS5 and PS4 versions, and many of them will upgrade for free, as we mentioned.

Sony has said several times that it believes in console generations, and that games should take full advantage of whatever hardware they're running on. In other words, the company is forward focused, and will use the PS5 to produce games that couldn't be made before. You won't be playing the likes of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PS4, because they're purpose-built to utilise PS5's power.

That said, PS4 games are unlikely to slow down. With over 100 million PS4 consoles globally, there will still be plenty of games releasing for the system, long after PS5 arrives.

It's perhaps also worth remembering that you can take advantage of PS5 backwards compatibility to play PS4 games on the new system. While you won't be able to play PS5 games on PS4, this means that you can at least keep all your PlayStation games together on one console.


Do you wish you could play PS5 games on PS4? Let us know in the comments section below, and check out our PS5 guide for more information.