PS5 backward compatibility is almost perfect

PlayStation 5 reviews are now sweeping the internet and one thing is certainly on everyone’s mind: how is PS5 backward compatibility?

Well, after weeks of testing, the video game performance analysts at Digital Foundry have reported some concrete facts about PS5 backward compatibility that we can now relay onto you.

Firstly,  many will be wondering how it compares to Xbox Series X’s backward compatibility methods.  With every Xbox One compatible game running on Xbox Series X, how does Sony’s machine handle the same software.

Very well it turns out.  While confusion initially surrounded the next-gen machines backward compatible capabilities,  nearly every PS4 game runs as well as you’d expect on PS5.

Digital Foundry reports that Just Cause 3, a game that ran shockingly bad on Xbox One and PS4, runs at a completely locked 30fps at 1080p. With most base Xbox One and PS4 games that never saw mid-gen console enhancements running at a higher resolution on PlayStation 4, Sony’s machine matches performance with higher visual clarity.

Of course, every PlayStation 4 game that saw enhancements for the PlayStation 4 Pro will run in its enhanced mode on Sony’s next-gen console, just like One X enhancements on Series X, but not Series S

With most of these enhancements running at a lower resolution on PS54 Pro compared to Xbox One X, there are times when Xbox Series X performance drops where PlayStation doesn’t. Hitman 2 runs at 4K 60ps with some slight framerate dips on Series X whereas PS5 runs the game at a completely locked framerate at 1440p.

Finally, there’s one backward compatible scenario that curiously runs far worse on PlayStation 5 when compared to Xbox Series X: Assassin’s Creed Unity. Playing the unpatched version allows the game to be played at a full 60fps on Series X, but PS5 can’t climb to those levels.

Assassin ‘s Creed Unity is an unsupported game on PS5 backward compatibility for unknown reasons. Many PS4 games running on backward compatibility will tell players they may encounter issues, but outside of this one instance everything appears to be fine.

Curiously,  despite the hype surrounding PlayStation 5’s SSD, backward compatibile games on PS5 don’t load as fast as games on Xbox Series X. Find out more here.