PS5 Will Not Be Backwards Compatible With PS1, PS2, and PS3 Games, According to Ubisoft Support Page (Update)

Update: The Ubisoft support page has been edited to remove any mention of PS3, PS2, and PS1, but the internet being the internet, screenshots have captured it for all to see.

Don’t take that to mean PS5 backwards compatibility will extend to those platforms however. More likely is the fact that Sony didn’t appreciate Ubisoft being the one to drop major confirmations regarding PS5 features ahead of the console manufacturer itself. Think an official Sony announcement is incoming?

Original: In a rather unsurprising confirmation, it looks like PS5 backwards compatibility will not extend to PS1, PS2, and PS3 titles. Despite incessant rumors hinting otherwise, the PS5 will only support the PS4 library through backwards compatibility. However, the information didn’t come directly from Sony. Instead, a Ubisoft support page detailed the backwards compatibility limitations.

On a help topic labeled “Transitioning PlayStation 4 Titles to Next Gen Versions,” Ubisoft says that backwards compatibility is “not possible” for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, or PlayStation games. While Sony itself has never set the expectation that the PS5 might play earlier generation PlayStation games, that hasn’t prevented rumors and grasping at straws that players might be able to play a PS2 disc in the upcoming next-gen console.

Here’s the full Ubisoft support page text:

As part of their next-gen upgrade process, PlayStation offer a number of features designed to help you move from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5.

PlayStation 4 players will be able to join multiplayer games with PlayStation 5 players.

Backwards compatibility will be available for supported PlayStation 4 titles, but will not be possible for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, or PlayStation games.

Sony has previously confirmed PS5 backwards compatibility with the PS4 library, saying it expects the vast majority of PS4 games to work on the PS5, though testing is still being done on a game-by-game basis. In addition to games playable via backwards compatibility, a number of recent and upcoming releases are getting next-generation bumps, with many of them granting the upgraded PS5 entitlement to the player for free. Others are charging an upgrade premium to go from the current-gen version to the next-generation of hardware.

Many had hoped Sony’s relative silence on the PS5 meant secret features like full backwards compatibility with PS1, PS2, and PS3 titles were coming, but with the console now less than three months out, it looks like third-party partners like Ubisoft are already trying to clarify the messaging where Sony has yet to comment. To quell certain rumors, it’s almost just as important to tell us what the console can’t do as it is to announce new features.

Here at PSLS, we’ve discussed PS5 backwards compatibility a lot, asking just how important it actually is for the console and wondered what it might mean for the trend of cross-generational releases and remasters of current-gen games on the next-gen consoles. Sony probably doesn’t want Ubisoft support pages to be the thing confirming and denying features for the next-gen console, so expect them to start talking PS5 soon. After all, with less than 90 days to release, there’s still a lot to learn.

[Source: Ubisoft]