Sony Sales Chief on PS4 Backwards Compatibility: ‘Why Would Anybody Play This?’

The latest console generation has been remarkable for its lack of backwards compatibility options. At least, it was before Microsoft made a huge push for back compatible games on the Xbox One. Sony’s Ps4 has still lagged way behind though, offering the PS Now streaming service that is a far cry from being able to pop in a PS2 disc and enjoy a classic game. According to a new interview between Sony global sales chief Jim Ryan and Time.com, it seems that PS4 backwards compatibility is unlikely to be added any time soon, with him having some harsh words for older games.

“When we’ve dabbled with backwards compatibility, I can say it is one of those features that is much requested, but not actually used much,” Ryan says in the interview. “That, and I was at a Gran Turismo event recently where they had PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 games, and the PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?”

It’s an interesting position to take, as Microsoft has essentially been saying the opposite for the last couple of years. Still, as excited as I’ve been for backwards compatibility, I will admit that it is a very rare occurrence when I actually play an older console generation’s games. I jumped onto the Xbox One backwards compatibility quickly, loading up some old classics. Since those first couple of weeks though I’ve barely touched it.

But perhaps I’m in the minority there. While PS4 backwards compatibility looks more and more unlikely, Xbox One is charging full steam ahead. Microsoft has to have the numbers to back up all of the effort they’re putting into the feature.

Even if players don’t actually spend a lot of time playing older games via backwards compatibility, it does seem like PS4 owners want the feature available to them. Perhaps Sony will change their mind some time later, but the answer from Ryan is pretty harshly against the idea.