Despite the Series X example, we are unlikely to see PS4 games running at 120fps on PS5 soon.
It’s becoming clear why PlayStation 5 users are unlikely to see PlayStation 4 games run at 120fps on Sony’s new console, even though it can. It was reported last week that Infinity Ward quietly updated Call of Duty: Warzone and the game started running at 120fps on the Xbox Series X, but not on the PS5.
Warzone, which runs on PS5 in Backward Compatible mode as a PS4 game, does not support 120fps. Activision declined to answer Eurogamer’s questions about this. As a result, the journalists suggested that the reason lies in the peculiarities of backward compatibility support on the part of Sony, and Infinity Ward will have to make a full-fledged Warzone port on the PS5 so that the game runs at 120 fps on the console.
A recent similar story with Rocket League has confirmed these concerns: this game also runs at 120fps in backward compatibility mode on Xbox Series X, but not on PS5. Psyonix has confirmed that 120 fps on the PS5 requires a full transfer of the game to the new console, while on the Xbox Series X and S only a small patch was required. By the way, Star Wars: Squadrons on Xbox Series X and Series S has a 120fps mode, while PlayStation 5 doesn’t.
This explains why we are much less likely to see PS4 games running at 120fps on PS5 than Xbox One games offering such an improvement on Xbox Series X and Series S. Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry tech team leader Richard Ledbetter ( Richard Leadbetter gave several comments on this.
“Support for 120Hz has really been a feature of the Xbox platform for several years, although Rainbow Six Siege was the only game that really crossed the 60fps threshold,” he said. “ Microsoft’s strategy was to add support for this capability, as well as VRR (Variable Display Refresh Rate) technology in advance, so that screen manufacturers already had the hardware to work with. This approach laid the groundwork for the next generation of games in advance.
Sony is currently limiting support for 120Hz to games specifically designed for the PS 5, which means that simply “enhanced” PS 4 games like Rocket League and Warzone cannot use this feature. In theory, Sony should be able to change this (PSVR games can run at 1080p at up to 120Hz ), but it can take a lot of effort. I think the question is whether it is possible to redirect some of the engineering resources devoted to the development of the PS 5 to improve backward compatibility with the PS 4. In this matter, the decision is up to Sony.
That’s all. If Sony doesn’t figure this out – and the company hasn’t announced plans yet – the dream of backward compatibility on the PS5 at 120fps is likely to remain a dream.
