Can the PS5 Digital Play PS4 Games?


Since the PS4 was released in 2013, it has built a wide and impressive library of games.

The PS4 library is stuffed full of outstanding titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank, Mortal Kombat 11, God of War, Death Stranding, Red Dead Redemption 2, Resident Evil 2, Tetris Effect, etc.

I have spent many hours playing these PS4 games and I’m yet to get bored with them. 

Now that the PS5 has replaced the PlayStation 4, the first question that came to my mind as I was planning to buy Sony’s next-gen console was whether I could continue playing my favorite PS4 games on the new console.

I believe that buying a new console doesn’t mean you have to trash your old console’s games.

To find an answer to my question, I jumped onto the internet and did some research. This is what I discovered.

Can the PS5 Digital play PS4 Games? While the PS5 Digital Edition has the backward compatibility feature, it can only play digital PS4 games. The console cannot play disc PS4 games because it doesn’t have a disc drive you can load the physical games.

Now that you know the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition can only play digital PS4 games, read on to find out which PS4 games you can play on the PS5 and how to play PS4 disc games on the PS5.

Which PS4 games can you play on the PS5 Digital?

There are currently over 4000 games available for the PS4 and 99.9% of those titles can be played on the Digital PS5.

On their website, PlayStation lists only 7 PS4 games that don’t work on PS5. The games are: 

  • Just Deal With It!
  • Shadwen
  • We Sing
  • Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One
  • Robinson: The Journey
  • The TT Isle of Man–Ride on the Edge 2
  • Hitman Go: Definitive Edition

If none of the above games are in your PS4 Digital library, you should be able to play all other PS4 games you own on the PlayStation 5.

If there is a PS4 game you have just heard about, and want to play it on the PS5, you can buy it from your PlayStation store.

It is great that Sony has made most of the PS4 games compatible with the PS5. 

With the wide library of PS4 games available for you to play on the PS5, you can keep yourself busy with them as you wait for the currently limited PS5 library to grow.

Note, if you have purchased the PS5 camera, you cannot use it to play PS4 PSVR games on the PS5 because this camera is not compatible with PSVR.

If you want to play PlayStation VR games on the PS5, you’ll have to hook the console up to a PS4 camera using a PlayStation Camera adaptor.

If you don’t already own a PS4 camera and the PlayStation VR, you’ll have to buy these devices.

When you do apply for the camera adapter to be shipped to you for free by PlayStation.

How to play PS4 games on PS5 Digital

It is easy to play your favorite PS4 games on the PS5 Digital.

To do that, follow these steps.

1: From your PS5 Home Screen scroll to the right of the screen until you find the Game Library. The Game Library menu has an icon of the PS5 controller at the bottom of six blocks.

2: When you click on the Game Library, you’ll be given a list of all the digital games you own. To view PS4 titles, only click on the button with three lines and an arrow.

3: On the resulting menu, click on Platform and you’ll be given the option to filter between PS5 and PS4 games. Tick the box next to the PS4 title.

4: You’ll now be able to only see the PS4 games you own. Scroll through your list of games and select the PS4 game you want to play on your PS5

When you select the game, it will begin to download. Once the download is complete, you should be able to open and play the game as you would on your PS4.

Any PS4 game saves you have in the cloud will automatically sync with the PS5.

What is it like playing PS4 games on the PS5 Digital version?

Because of the PS5’s powerful tech PS4 games will look much better and give higher performance when played on the PS5.

For example, while playing PS4 God of War on the PlayStation 5, I enjoyed quicker game loading times, higher resolution, and more stable frame rates which made gaming smooth.

The audio made me feel like I was in the actual environment where the game was taking place.

How can you play PS4 game discs on the PS5?

I’m sure by now you know Sony released two versions of the PS5, the Standard PS5, and the Digital Edition PS5.

The difference between the two is the Standard PS5 comes with an Ultra-HD Blu-ray disc drive and the Digital console doesn’t.

The Digital PS5 is also $100 cheaper and has a slimmer design. 

Other than that, the two consoles have the same tech and deliver the same performance.

Sony says they released two versions of the PS5 because they realized many gamers are moving to digital games.

“We’re just acknowledging here that as time passes our community is becoming more digitally orientated. In the first quarter of 2020, two-thirds of new games purchased were digitally downloaded. People increasingly, as they are with their music and their video, prefer digital and we want to recognize that.” PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan said in an interview with CNET.

The standard PS5 has a disc drive, which plays PS4 and PS5 games disc, DVDs, standard Blu-ray discs, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs.

So, if you have a library of PS4 games you would like to continue playing on Sony’s latest console you should get the Standard PS5, which can also play digital PS4 games.

To play PS4 game discs on Sony’s next-gen console, all you have to do is insert the PS4 disc into the console’s disc drive, give it a few seconds to install the game, and you should be able to select and play the game.

The PS4 disc will have to be in the console’s disc drive every time you want to play the game.

Summary

Here’s a quick rundown of the article’s main points:

  • The PS5 digital edition can play digital versions of PS4 games
  • However, it can’t play disk based games as the Digital PS5 dosn’t have a disk drive
  • There are 7 PS4 games that do not work on the PS5
  • PSVR is compatable with PS5 but you’ll need to use the original PS4 camera, not the PS5 camera
    • You’ll need a PS4 camera adapter which you can get from Sony here.
  • Many PS4 games perfrom better on the PS5
  • Digital games are easy to play on the digital PS5
  • Just download them fro myour librery and play
  • Disk based PS4 games can only be played on the disk based PS5
    • These games are also easy to install. Just put the disk in the drive and the game will install as normal

Nick Sinclair

Nick Sinclair, a gaming aficionado since the Commodore 64 era, studied Creative Computer Games Design in university before founding his own gaming company. Discovering a passion for content creation, Nick now helps gamers squeeze every drop of fun out of their favorite gaming hardware

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