PlayStation Won't be Pushing Backwards Compatibility | Ad Was NOT a Teaser

Urian B., Tech Times 23 January 2022, 10:01 pm

With a lot of buyers still trying to get the PlayStation 5 and the limited amount of titles currently exclusive for the PS5, new console owners are wondering about backwards compatibility for consoles farther than the PS4.

Sadly, one of PlayStation's ads was misunderstood and Sony is actually not planning on bringing backward compatibility to their consoles.

Fans Thought PlayStation Teased Backwards Compatibility

According to a tweet by Push Square, fans actually thought that PlayStation was teasing backward compatibility for the PS1, PS2, and PS3. Sadly, it was actually nothing more than just an ad.

According to the article, the publication warns that it was not worth getting excited over the PlayStation Japanese teaser unless fans were also interested in Kenshi Yonezu. The infamous Japanese PlayStation ad had nothing to do with backwards compatibility.

#米津玄師 x #PlayStation

米津玄師さんが、
PlayStation®の新CMに出演決定。

1・2・3は、PlayStationの合言葉。
1月23日に、起動。#PlayHasNoLimits pic.twitter.com/AuRK01ZYJ3
— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) January 22, 2022

1, 2, 3 Thought to Refer to the PS1, PS2, and PS3

The reason that fans ended up thinking that PlayStation would bring backwards compatibility is due to the visible 1, 2, and 3, which were actually nothing but just lyrics in the advertisement. The confusion is actually quite understandable as it does look like a potential tease for compatibility.

At the same time, the interpretation was just based on the numbers 1, 2, and 3, without any other context. Although there's no telling if Sony will later on decide to bring backwards compatibility to its consoles, one reason why the ad could have mistakenly been thought to be a teaser is due to it being in Japanese.

Why was There Confusion?

For English-speaking fans that come across the ad, the numbers 1, 2, and 3, followed by a Japanese character than the word "PlayStation" could be taken with optimistic imagination.

Previously, a PlayStation Japan tweet blew up due to fans thinking that it was referring to backward compatibility for the PS1, PS2, and PS3. The truth, however, is that it was a teaser ad with the 1, 2, and 3 actually being the launch date featuring the Japanese popstar and music producer known as Kenshi Yonezu.

The Actual Video Being Teased

Although fans were right that it was a teaser, it was not specifically what they thought it was. Rather, it was a teaser to this video. Since the video dropped, the confusion has been cleared as to what PlayStation Japan's Twitter page was referring to.

Although the number of gamers that have a PS5 has increased, the number of games that are PS5 "exclusive" are extremely limited. A lot of games for the PlayStation 5 are actually PS4 games played with backwards compatibility.

With Sony no longer producing the PS4, fans might see things shift to a more "PS5-focused" gaming environment soon. This means that potentially no more games would be released for the PlayStation 4. This, however, remains to be seen and only time will be able to tell if such is really the case.