Prior to the release of Sony’s PlayStation 5 there are still several questions unanswered. Now a patent leak has raised hopes for backwards compatibility all the way down to the PlayStation 1.
Although Sony has revealed the designs of the consoles and peripherals during the reveal event, many details are still up in the air.
Among the unknowns are price, release date and also the full extent of backwards compatibility. A patent leak has now given fans worldwide hope for complete backwards compatibility.
According to the Tweet the PS5 will be able to play games from past generations via a cloud service. But some of the comments give cause for pause.
SIEのPS5？特許情報をメモします。
・PS1/PS2/PS3、様々な世代のゲーム機にわたる大量のゲームタイトルが、クラウドゲーミングライブラリを介して蓄積され利用可能。
・これらのゲームは、それぞれのゲーム機に関連したオペレーティングシステムを模倣した仮想マシンの上で実行可能。 pic.twitter.com/TsWV859OLd
— れんか (@Renka_schedule) July 4, 2020
Just a patent for a streaming service?
According to the patent in order to play older titles on the newest console a virtual console will be utilized, similar to an emulator. However those older titles will aparently only be available via cloud.
Many users on Twitter speculate that it might “just” be a patent for Sony’s PlayStation Now Service. The subscription-based service allows games to be streamed to consoles and other devices.
This service might be expanded to PlayStation 5 in the future. But as of now PS1 games are unavailable in PlayStation Now, a fact that might be changing soon.
In terms of official statements Sony has not yet said anything new since the reveal event. During the event Sony announced that “most” PS4 games will be compatible but did not go into detail. Even if the new patent leak turns out to be wrong, Sony’s stance on those should not have changed.
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