Sony has now told their PS4 game developers that any new games submitted for certification after July 13 must also be compatible with the PlayStation 5. Essentially means any new games trying to make its way onto the PS4, and submitted the certification after July 13 must also work on the PS5.

This is no doubt to help players feel the sense of a stacked library at launch, which makes sense.

Sony also mentions that they will be contacting developers individually to provide details for PS5 compatibility testing. Games that are deemed ‘compatible’ with the PS5 will only be processed if the game runs without issues on Sony’s next-gen console, and it has to have the same features from the PS4 version. If it misses out on a certain mode that’s available on the PS4, the game is not PS5 compatible.

However, keep in mind this only applies to games that are submitted to Sony after July 13. Most games submissions are made well in advance, so games we’ve already gotten confirmed released dates for are not beholden to this ‘rule’. The easiest example would be Ghost of Tsushima, which releases on July 17. The game theoretically doesn’t need to be compatible with the PS5, but I’ve no doubt that it will make its way there eventually.

The only thing I’m curious about is the structure in which this will take place. Will Sony be allowing games that are compatible with the PS5, and in your PlayStation library of games, freely downloadable and playable at launch? If so, gamers upgrading to next-gen will already have a whole host of games to play right out the bat.

But if Sony is asking you to purchase the game you already own, I’m not sure how well that’ll be received. For now, only time will tell. Let’s hope we get a better understanding of how all this works when Sony holds their PlayStation 5 event on June 4.