PS5 and PS4 users will be able to play together online

PS5's backward compatibility will be so "powerful" that PS4 gamers will be able to play online with Sony's next-gen console users.

Sony CEO Jim Ryan revealed that "groups of 10, 20, 50 gamers" will be able to come together to play online. 

"Backwards compatibility, in a networked era, becomes something that is incredibly powerful," he explained in a Gamespot report. 

"Because the gaming community is somewhat tribal in its nature, backwards compatibility gives us the opportunity to migrate that community from PlayStation 4 to next-gen using the ability to play the PS4 games they have on their next generation console — groups of 10, 20, 50 gamers. So we see this, given the size of the community that we've been able to accumulate over all these years and hard work on PlayStation 4 as a really critical success factor for us."

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What’s not clear, however, is whether the online backwards compatibility is available across all games or just specific ones. 

Sony’s deputy president John Kodera believes that the cross-generational capability will help friends play together across console generations, which would make it more likely for folks to stick with PlayStation. 

Of late, Sony has been hyping up its next-gen console, which is only expected to arrive some time next year. It’s said to boast faster speeds, 8K graphics, and 3D audio, while a surprising partnership signed with Microsoft teases some cloud gaming capabilities too.