Rumour: Are PlayStation 1, 2 & 3 Games Finally Inbound To PlayStation 5?

Publish Date:

Author:

27/03/21

Kyle Smith

Rumours are rising around speculation of backward compatibility being brought to the PlayStation 5. This is due to a patent being published by Sony which states that through emulation, memory values could be used to ‘ping’ a trophy. So, does this confirm the arrival of backwards compatibility?

Answer: Yes and No!

So, it is noticeably clear that Sony wants to achieve this for their console, and with the PS5 having more power than previous consoles, it is likely that emulation of the PS1, 2 and 3 is more likely to be achieved. So, with respect to that, it is clear that it is highly likely that we will get an emulated back catalogue. ALTHOUGH! This isn’t the first time Sony has raised a Patent for this. In fact, the company registered its first proposal, back in December 2016, albeit using a different solution towards granting a trophy through emulation.

The only thing that makes me feel like this time it’s more likely than previously, is due to the events of the timeline. Sony plan to close their previous console stores, in July 2021, which is a very normal thing to do. Although, could this be being used as a conceptual date for getting their emulation live? Maybe, but I will admit, I am clutching at straws here. But what is safe to say, is that emulation is achievable with the specs of the PS5. So, let's see how this goes. For those interested, I’ve placed a timeline below of all of the key dates, and times that Sony has raised with this patent in the past, with key milestone events for the company.

November 2013: PlayStation 4 Launches

January 2014: PSNow Launched (In America, its first launch place)

December 2016: Sony Applies Patent: ”A computer-implemented method assigns one or more trophies to a user. A game is emulated in response to a request from a client device. A trophy trigger is detected during emulation of the game by comparing a current program counter value to a predetermined value and comparing a stored instruction in an instruction storage location to a predetermined instruction when the current program counter value matches the predetermined counter value. The one or more trophies are assigned to a user account that is associated with the user when the current program counter value matches the predetermined value and the instruction in the instruction storage location matches the predetermined instruction.”

June 2017: Patent is Officially Published

February 2019: Sony Applies Patent: “A computer-implemented method assigns one or more trophies to a user. A game is emulated in response to a request from a client device. A trophy trigger is detected during emulation of the game by comparing a current program counter value to a predetermined value and comparing a stored instruction in an instruction storage location to a predetermined instruction when the current program counter value matches the predetermined counter value. The one or more trophies are assigned to a user account that is associated with the user when the current program counter value matches the predetermined value and the instruction in the instruction storage location matches the predetermined instruction.” (With a different solution suggestion within patent from the prior patent)

August 2019: Patent is Officially Published

12th November 2020: PlayStation 5 Launches

18th November 2020: Sony Applies Patent: “A computer-implemented method assigns one or more trophies to a user. A game is emulated in response to a request from a client device. A trophy trigger is detected during emulation of the game by comparing a memory value of the emulated game to a predetermined value and assigning the one or more trophies to the user based on the detected trophy trigger.”