While Sony has paved way for fans to play older titles on their PlayStation 4 platform, fans still require to pay for them once more, regardless if they already had them. Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility allows fans to simply put a disc and download an update for free, before enjoying the game once again. Now it seems like PlayStation 5 may borrow a page from Xbox.
Sony has finished registering a patent that suggests the availability of Backwards Compatibility in PlayStation 5. According to the patent, this could also apply for PlayStation 4, PS3, PS2 and the original PlayStation.
“Each asset such as a texture called for by legacy software such as a legacy computer game software has a unique identifier associated with it. The unique identifier can be rendered by imposing a hash on the asset, and then the asset stored with its identifier in a data structure. An artist remasters the textures for presentation on a higher resolution display than envisioned in the original software, and stores them back in the data structure with their identifiers. The original software is then played on the higher resolution display, with asset (such as texture) calls being intercepted, identified, and the data structure entered to retrieve the remastered asset having a matching identifier. The remastered asset is then inserted on the fly into the game presentation.”
With more than 500 titles being offered by Microsoft with Backwards Compatibility, this might be the best time for Sony to introduce this feature. “What about my games?” is the most common question in the comment section every time a next gen is brought up. With Xbox promising to deliver better and more accessible gaming experience, Sony is also looking forward to evolving their business model.
What do you think about the inclusion of Backwards Compatibility? Let us know in the comments below.
