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.