In a now pulled paragraph, a Ubisoft support article rather certainly said that the PlayStation 5’s backwards compatibility plans only extend to the PlayStation 4 generation, and will leave games from PlayStation-branded legacy and retro systems out in the cold.
The post, captured and immortalized in a screencap on Twitter by Wario64, explains that supported PlayStation 4 titles will be playable on PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility “but will not be possible for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, or PlayStation games.”
If found to be PlayStation-confirmed fact, these restrictions on the reach of backwards compatibility wouldn’t be entirely surprising. While Xbox has led with a more backwards compatible-friendly foot this generation, and for some time now, PlayStation’s generational lines tend to be drawn more clearly, especially of late.
While PlayStation’s first-party projects aren’t planned as cross-generational titles, the Ubisoft support article does echo PlayStation’s own decrees that there are programs and pathways in place that allow players to upgrade supported current generation games to spruced-up next generation versions, though those exact steps vary from publisher to publisher.
PS5 is not backwards compatible with PS3/PS2/PS1 games, according to a Ubisoft supprot page https://t.co/j1wTcAApZ3 pic.twitter.com/hnbpndATPi
— Wario64 (@Wario64) August 31, 2020