Backwards Compatible PS4 Game Discs Will Be Supported On the PS5

An official Japanese PlayStation account has confirmed that PS5 models with a disc drive will be able to support backwards compatible PS4 game discs. [Thanks, Game*Spark!]

Sony Interactive Entertainment posted a clarification tweet on the Ask PlayStation JP account after a Japanese Twitter user claimed that “a PS4 disc won’t work even when inserted into a PS5” after contacting Sony’s support center in Japan.

PS5の互換動作に対応したPS4のゲームであれば、ディスク版でもデジタル版でもPS5でそのままプレイ可能です。PS4のゲームをディスクでプレイする場合は、ディスクドライブ搭載モデルをお選び下さい。以上PS5の互換性に関する窓口対応について不足がございましたので補足してお詫び申し上げます。 pic.twitter.com/Ha0JZGHtf4

— Ask PlayStation JP (@AskPS_JP) September 23, 2020

The tweet reads as follows:

If the PS4 game is supported by PS5’s compatibility operations, both the disc and digital versions can be played as-is on the PS5. If you are going to play the PS4 game with a disc, please choose the model with the disc drive. We apologize for the insufficiency in the contact support related to PS5’s [backwards] compatibility, as we made the addendum above.

This statement confirmed that the PlayStation 5 will also support discs of backwards compatible PlayStation 4 games—provided that you have the regular PS5 model with a disc drive, instead of the PS5 Digital Edition which omits the disc drive for a cheaper price tag.

We also previously learned from SIE’s CEO Jim Ryan that the PS5 will be backwards compatible with ninety-nine percent of PS4 games, but not with PS3, PS2, and PS1 games.

PlayStation 5 will be available first in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand on November 12, 2020. The rest of the world will follow suit the week after on November 19, 2020.