Sony commits to supporting the PS4 longer than it did the PS3

[Cal Jeffrey]

Good news: Jim Ryan, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has a new promise for PlayStation 4 owners that should positively affect their last-generation consoles' longevity. The top exec said Sony is committed to bringing great games to PS4 for years to come.

In an interview in the December issue of Edge Magazine, Ryan admitted that the transition from the PS3 to the PS4 was rather abrupt. He added that the company is taking a different approach as it shifts focus to the PlayStation 5.

"We do feel that we have a responsibility to that very large community, and an opportunity to carry on making great PS4 games for as long as the need is there," the Sony boss explained. "I think you will see a tail with PS4 that you did not see with PS3. But that said, as time passes, you're going to see more and more emphasis on PS5 development."

In other words, Sony will phase out the PS4 much more slowly than it did the PlayStation 3. This pledge is great news for players who usually wait for a price drop or for those who can't get a PS5, thanks to scalpers charging triple the price or more for a unit. It also means fresh new games well into the future for users who tend to hold on to their legacy systems.

The decision to shift PS4 to PS5 transition speed makes more sense this time around as well. The PlayStation 4 is Sony's second best selling console, shipping more than 113 million units and counting, a bit behind the PS2 (155M) and just ahead of the original PlayStation (102M). Early adoption rates indicated that the PS4 would readily overtake the PlayStation 3's 87 million in lifetime sales. So it made sense for Sony to focus on PS4 content production more heavily.

There is also a huge emphasis on the PlayStation 5's backward compatibility, a feature that was lacking for the first time on the PlayStation 3. Knowing that most if not all new PS4 games will run as well or better on a PS5 should somewhat mitigate concerns of having a production schedule initially favoring the PlayStation 4.

What does this mean for PS5 owners? Will they see fewer games coming out on their shiny new consoles? Probably not.

While games out of Sony-owned studios will be slightly more focused on PS4 content at first, third-party developers have shown a keen interest in bringing their titles to the new, more powerful platform. Many studios churning out PS4 games are still looking to port their creations to PlayStation 5, often offering the next-gen version free to customers who already bought it on PS4. So there will likely not be any lag on quality games for the PS5.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/88039-sony-commits-supporting-ps4-longer-than-did-ps3.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Translation: either "sony exclusives will be held back for years to cater to much weaker consoles" or "we will claim to support the PS4 until the PS5 has sold in large numbers, at which point we will no longer support the PS4"

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I miss the good old days when a new console flat out replaced and obsoleted the old one.

No one complained that SNES wasn't reverse compatible with NES games, nor did they complain Genesis couldn't run Master System games.

These companies now are determined to keep producing old systems when they should be leaving them in the dust and moving forward.

cyberpunk, for example, NEVER should have been designed with PS4 or Xbox in mind. It should have been targeted as a PS5/ Xbox SX launch title from the get go.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Ah the good old days .
Do you really think that is the problem? I mean you can play Witcher 3 on a Nintendo - with its mighty Nvidia GPU

 

[Bao Nguyen]

Well I have a feeling that there was almost zero different between ps4 and ps5 games beside different packaging. By saying they will support ps4 along just to gives them a legit reason to sell ps5 games at an even higher price than before as we are seeing with Spider Man: Miles Morale.

 

[dangh]

Well I have a feeling that there was almost zero different between ps4 and ps5 games beside different packaging. By saying they will support ps4 along just to gives them a legit reason to sell ps5 games at an even higher price than before as we are seeing with Spider Man: Miles Morale.

Dunno, for me there is huge difference and much higher playing comfort Inn my ps5. I really enjoy it much more than ps4, and patches games offer much better visuals.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Sony keeping 30fps gaming alive!
Cool...
You would think backwards compatibility would lower its life.

 

[amghwk]

The only problem I have with my PS4 Pro is the obnoxious jet engine fan sounds while running demanding titles - Horizon, RDR2, etc.

 

[gigantor21]

Lame.

They keep talking up the great new "experiences" the new hardware allows. How are they going to make that happen if the games have to run on 7+ year old hardware?

 

[LuckyMenace]

cyberpunk, for example, NEVER should have been designed with PS4 or Xbox in mind. It should have been targeted as a PS5/ Xbox SX launch title from the get go.

I definitely agree with you there and CDPR should've flat out cancelled the game for PS4/XBONE, but I suspect it's because it was announced 8 years ago for the then nascent consoles. They couldn't push it back another year (holiday 2021, for example) to be next-gen only because most people didn't get the PS5/XSX this year. They would've sold half as many copies, if that. It's unfortunately timing but I honestly think CDPR ran out of money developing Cyberpunk 2077 and release had to happen in 2020, despite everything.

 

[scavengerspc]

nor did they complain Genesis couldn't run Master System games.

There was an addon called the power base converter that allowed Master System games to run on Genesis.

 

[defaultluser]

I miss the good old days when a new console flat out replaced and obsoleted the old one.

No one complained that SNES wasn't reverse compatible with NES games, nor did they complain Genesis couldn't run Master System games.

Well, actually...

https://segaretro.org/Power_Base_Converter

There were plans to pull he same trick on the SNES (which was why they bothered with the 16-bit 6502, instead off the faster 68000).

The PS2 was the first console to offer complete backward-compatibility from Sony for it's entire lifetime (was eventually cut on PS3, and completely ignored on PS4)., and now it returns with PS5

Even while the SNES was released, they still made exclusives like Battletoads and Castlevania 3 (both exclusives to the old system), so don't pretend like the amazing games that you eventually would remember the SNES for were released anywhere near launch day (and having hardware compatibility just let's you cut-down the number of systems in your entertainment center).

I think it's a lot easier t stretch the performance of a 8GB memory subsystem than it was to stretch 256MB system ram, so I expect much longer life - it also helps that over ha;f your console's potential horsepower is no-longer locked in something as complex to program for as early Cray Supercomputers.

 

[pencea]

Sony did the same with PS2. Likewise with Psone when PS2 came out too. They've been known to support their hardware for years.

This is nothing new.

 

[Nobina]

PS4 peeps really got their moneys worth.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Well, actually...

https://segaretro.org/Power_Base_Converter

There were plans to pull he same trick on the SNES (which was why they bothered with the 16-bit 6502, instead off the faster 68000).

The PS2 was the first console to offer complete backward-compatibility from Sony for it's entire lifetime (was eventually cut on PS3, and completely ignored on PS4)., and now it returns with PS5

Even while the SNES was released, they still made exclusives like Battletoads and Castlevania 3 (both exclusives to the old system), so don't pretend like the amazing games that you eventually would remember the SNES for were released anywhere near launch day (and having hardware compatibility just let's you cut-down the number of systems in your entertainment center).

I think it's a lot easier t stretch the performance of a 8GB memory subsystem than it was to stretch 256MB system ram, so I expect much longer life - it also helps that over ha;f your console's potential horsepower is no-longer locked in something as complex to program for as early Cray Supercomputers.

I had Super Game Boy and I had the Master Converter to play Sega Master System games on the Game Gear.

That's not my point. Yes it's possible to have backward compatibility, but my point is, the new system COMPLETELY ousted the old one and we moved forward - not focusing on moving backwards or keeping old tech alive.

 

[nnguy2]

I miss the good old days when a new console flat out replaced and obsoleted the old one.

No one complained that SNES wasn't reverse compatible with NES games, nor did they complain Genesis couldn't run Master System games.

These companies now are determined to keep producing old systems when they should be leaving them in the dust and moving forward.

cyberpunk, for example, NEVER should have been designed with PS4 or Xbox in mind. It should have been targeted as a PS5/ Xbox SX launch title from the get go.

Consoles hold back game development because developers have to limit the tech for old systems.

 

[loki1944]

Good deal for PS4 users.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I still do not get your selfish points - it is NOT about selling new consoles ( they will sell anyway ) - It is about software sales - Even though Sony doesn't emphasize that like MS .
No one disputed my point about Witcher the Wild Hunt on Nintendo ? why because you can't .
If is NOT about your selfish desires and how you think the world should be .
Why should companies only code for the 5% Rx3090/PS5/XBOX whatever ?

I mean most games on PC will run quite happily on a PC on a 3080 or 1060 with appropriate changes to output and affects.

Do you guys think that game developers do not know how to code to a wide base?

That is why Crysis is a meme!!!!

The problem with Cyberpunk is Project Red or whatever the developers are called- they didn't want to tone down the bling for less powerful consoles - If the game had a good story and play - the extra bling would be the bonus .
Wake up you selfish ( I can afford the best ) - normal folks want to play as well - and developers want their employees to put FOOD on the TABLE. So they are not going to pander to your support as big spenders only.

Rant only
PS what are you even doing on a PC with all it's legacy crap slowing it down & support for everything - Apple is where you need to be

 

[Lounds]

I do remember the PS1 still having games come out for even in 2002. So it's not far fetched for the PS4 to have games coming out for it for the next 3 years or more, I think what people need to realise is that Sony won't be making AAA games for the PS4 now and all their investment in AAA will be for PS5.

 

[Ravey]

This might sound daft but when Sony decided that PS4 is no longer making them money or that they no longer have the manpower to support two consoles at once, couldn't they just sell of the rights to PS4 to another compnay to keep on releasing new softward updates and support games on PS4?

 

[Danny101]

PS5 is mostly a visual leap right now than much of a content leap. Cyberpunk was an anomaly in that it was a current generation game right out the gate. Although, due to the length of the project, I suspect that it was originally targeted for the PS4/XBone consoles. They flubbed it greatly. Should have just stuck with and optimized for the PS4/XBone releases and not pushed for the PS5/XBX and done those enhancements later. New content for the new generation of consoles are still in infancy and there's still life left for the last generation consoles. Backwards compatibility should at least be paramount. I would suggest game creators to produce PS4 designed games with optional visual enhancements add-ons as PS5-Ready and also do PS5 only games. For example: In the vein of let's say a PS4 game at $40/ $50 PS5-Ready Visual Enhancement and a purely PS5 game at say $60. A PS5 should still be backwards compatible for the PS4 games if somebody doesn't want to spend for the visual enhancements. I for one have never owned a PS4 nor played any of it's library titles. Still all new to me. At this point, a PS5 would be the most cost effective and I would initially be purchasing the PS4 games that I've missed out on, but still have the PS5 option.