PS4 Backwards With PS3 Compatibility Unlikely, Say Developers

If you're expecting to play your PlayStation 3 titles on the upcoming PS4, you may be in for a bit of a disappointment—as a few game developers are casting their doubts on the possibility of backwards compatibility on the device.

Speaking to PlayStation Universe, developers from the UK-based developer Clever Beans said that the chance of backwards compatibility for PS3 titles on the next-generation system may be unlikely given the changes in its hardware. Clever Beans is the developer of the recently released When Vikings Attack, a game exclusive to the PS3 and PS Vita. 

The developers suggested that any sort of backwards compatibility would likely have to be streamed from the cloud.

"If you’re asking for information about PS4, I’m afraid we don’t know anything about it," they said. "As to whether PS4 will be backwards-compatible, we can only guess; but I would think that is something that would be very difficult to achieve. Maybe it could be handled using cloud-based streaming."

However, the developers also said that the platform will be a lot easier to work with, as they understand that its architecture is a lot more similar to that of a PC. 

The studio says that it plans to continue working on updates for When Vikings Attack, which it is currently developing a DLC for and ad-hoc networking on the Vita version of the game.