We know the PS5 will be backward compatible with "thousands of PS4 games," but are there plans for a PS4 version of the next generation's most exciting release?PS4 enthusiasts, don't hold your breath. [Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, says the company wants to offer "something that can only be enjoyed on PS5." [Ryan told Gamesindustry.biz, "We've always said we believe in generations. We believe that if we're going to build a next-generation console, we should include features and benefits that the previous generation didn't have." And in our view, people should make games that take full advantage of those features.

"We believe in generations, whether it's the DualSense controller, 3D audio, or multiple uses of SSDs: ...... We believe it's time to offer the PlayStation community something new and something different that they can only enjoy on PS5," Ryan continued.

From a business perspective, there is no arguing that this is a sensible approach. After all, who would spend hundreds of dollars on a new console just to play a game they can already play on the old one, only to upgrade to a PS4 in 2013 to play a slightly shinier version of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag? Those who did will feel strongly about this point.

Still, this is the opposite of Microsoft's approach, as the company has promised no first-party titles exclusively for the Xbox Series X for several years after the console's launch.

However, Ryan is keen to point out that this does not mean that the 100 million strong PS4 player base has been forgotten. He continued, "We have a responsibility to serve that community for years after the launch of PS5, and we always felt that was a huge business opportunity for us," adding that this community has shown "amazing tenacity" toward the PS4 brand.

In other words, it's a balancing act between sticking with current hardware without making them feel forgotten and steering players to something new and shiny. Perhaps Sony will let third parties continue to make PS4 software for the next few years. And given that EA's last PS2 "FIFA" game was released in 2014, 14 years after the console's debut, that seems like a reasonable bet.