I guess backwards compatibility is dead on consoles now

With Sony officially killing off physical media for the PlayStation 6 and even the PS5 starting in 2028, and Xbox reportedly doing the same with its own consoles, the dream of backward compatibility seems utterly dead now. For millions of users worldwide across both platforms, many games will be completely unplayable on new consoles, meaning backwards compatibility will probably only be available to those who settled for digital anyway. With no way to use your disc, you’ll just get locked out of playing your favorite game and forced to purchase it again for this new console. Either that or Sony will likely offer you a physical disc drive as a separate, likely pricey purchase so it can extort even more money out of you while actively disrespecting you as a customer. Xbox, if the rumors are true, likely has the same ideas in mind.https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 Important updates:News on physical discs for new games – https://t.co/tWarDrmLa5News on PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita – https://t.co/O8EXktjqXq https://t.co/0LPMt0v2Sn— PlayStation UK (@PlayStationUK) July 1, 2026 Ever since the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One came out, backwards compatibility was a major selling point. You wouldn’t have to purchase your games again to run them on new consoles, and even those classics from olden eras remained playable on the current generation of hardware, usually with optimizations and tweaks to make them stable and just as fun as they were back in the day, if not more so. Now, millions of games out there, if not billions, will be prevented from running on next-gen consoles. Why? No reason in particular. Sony says it’s “market trends” that are to blame, but we all know the truth: by going full-digital, Sony prevents you from reselling games, forcing everyone to purchase entire copies at full price. On top of that, they can pull the rug from underneath you at any point with any justification, just like they literally killed off thousands of digital games on the PS Vita store today. They also locked people out of hundreds of movies they had purchased, offering no compensation whatsoever. Digital gives them ownership over you, and you’re losing access to your own games while at the same time putting Sony in charge of when your digital copy will become a dud. Not all consoles will suffer this same fate, at least not for the time being. Nintendo seems keen on wanting to put its old games on the Switch 2 whenever possible (thanks Games Radar), though that company, too, has begun pushing for codes and digital copies over physical ones as well. RIP to physical media. You will genuinely be sorely missed. Image via ITC.ua. Making discs and boxes and distributing them is costly, so one’d think games would become cheaper as a result. But, no, publishers are retaining the price while killing off the costs, essentially directly improving their own cash flow at no real cost other than some bad PR. The only saving grace we have now is emulation, a practice that’s been targeted by the likes of Nintendo for many years now. Emulating old games on your own PC is the way to go and genuinely the only remaining “stable” place where you can enjoy your stuff outside of purchasing the relevant old consoles themselves. The issue is that Nintendo and others tend to send cease and desist letters to emulator developers, forcing them to close up shop and leave users with even fewer options than before. Furthermore, consoles like the PlayStation 5 will probably either never get emulated or will take another 10 or more years to reach the prototype stage due to its incredibly complex architecture. Even 13 years after its launch, we still have only a beta version of the PS4 emulator, and it still requires a mighty PC to run stably. Therefore, I think we’re simply fucked when it comes to backwards compatibility. It’ll take a herculean effort to bring it back and to fight against the intents and practices of gaming giants like Sony. But I guess this is the result of having a two-console system (three, to some extent). 0 The post I guess backwards compatibility is dead on consoles now appeared first on Destructoid.

Jul 2, 2026 - 02:07

I guess backwards compatibility is dead on consoles now

With Sony officially killing off physical media for the PlayStation 6 and even the PS5 starting in 2028, and Xbox reportedly doing the same with its own consoles, the dream of backward compatibility seems utterly dead now.

For millions of users worldwide across both platforms, many games will be completely unplayable on new consoles, meaning backwards compatibility will probably only be available to those who settled for digital anyway. With no way to use your disc, you’ll just get locked out of playing your favorite game and forced to purchase it again for this new console.

Either that or Sony will likely offer you a physical disc drive as a separate, likely pricey purchase so it can extort even more money out of you while actively disrespecting you as a customer. Xbox, if the rumors are true, likely has the same ideas in mind.

https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 Important updates:

News on physical discs for new games – https://t.co/tWarDrmLa5

News on PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita – https://t.co/O8EXktjqXq https://t.co/0LPMt0v2Sn

— PlayStation UK (@PlayStationUK) July 1, 2026 Ever since the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One came out, backwards compatibility was a major selling point. You wouldn’t have to purchase your games again to run them on new consoles, and even those classics from olden eras remained playable on the current generation of hardware, usually with optimizations and tweaks to make them stable and just as fun as they were back in the day, if not more so.

Now, millions of games out there, if not billions, will be prevented from running on next-gen consoles. Why? No reason in particular. Sony says it’s “market trends” that are to blame, but we all know the truth: by going full-digital, Sony prevents you from reselling games, forcing everyone to purchase entire copies at full price.

On top of that, they can pull the rug from underneath you at any point with any justification, just like they literally killed off thousands of digital games on the PS Vita store today.

They also locked people out of hundreds of movies they had purchased, offering no compensation whatsoever. Digital gives them ownership over you, and you’re losing access to your own games while at the same time putting Sony in charge of when your digital copy will become a dud.

Not all consoles will suffer this same fate, at least not for the time being. Nintendo seems keen on wanting to put its old games on the Switch 2 whenever possible (thanks Games Radar), though that company, too, has begun pushing for codes and digital copies over physical ones as well.

RIP to physical media. You will genuinely be sorely missed. Image via ITC.ua. Making discs and boxes and distributing them is costly, so one’d think games would become cheaper as a result. But, no, publishers are retaining the price while killing off the costs, essentially directly improving their own cash flow at no real cost other than some bad PR.

The only saving grace we have now is emulation, a practice that’s been targeted by the likes of Nintendo for many years now. Emulating old games on your own PC is the way to go and genuinely the only remaining “stable” place where you can enjoy your stuff outside of purchasing the relevant old consoles themselves.

The issue is that Nintendo and others tend to send cease and desist letters to emulator developers, forcing them to close up shop and leave users with even fewer options than before.

Furthermore, consoles like the PlayStation 5 will probably either never get emulated or will take another 10 or more years to reach the prototype stage due to its incredibly complex architecture. Even 13 years after its launch, we still have only a beta version of the PS4 emulator, and it still requires a mighty PC to run stably.

Therefore, I think we’re simply fucked when it comes to backwards compatibility. It’ll take a herculean effort to bring it back and to fight against the intents and practices of gaming giants like Sony. But I guess this is the result of having a two-console system (three, to some extent).

0 The post I guess backwards compatibility is dead on consoles now appeared first on Destructoid.

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