An executive from Sony confirmed that the PlayStation 4 console will not get the appropriate compatibility support in order to play PlayStation 3 games.
This move certainly contradicts what the company's rival, Microsoft, revealed during its recent E3 press conference.
During the event, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One will receive backwards compatibility, which will allow gamers to play Xbox 360 titles through the company's next-gen console, PlayStation Lifestyle reported.
The company explained that once the update is launched later this year, only selected Xbox 360 games will be supported by backwards compatibility for the Xbox One. However, more games will eventually be included in the upcoming feature.
Of course, since Microsoft revealed its plans to debut the feature, PlayStation owners assumed that Sony will also unveil a similar service. But according to an interview with MCV UK, Sony has no plans to launch backwards compatibility for the PlayStation 4.
Jim Ryan, the president of Sony's PlayStation Europe division, explained that Sony and Microsoft are taking different paths in the gaming tech industry. Instead of adding backward compatibility, the executive said that Sony is more focused on prioritizing other projects for its own next-gen console.
"We are just taking a different path," he told MCV UK. "To the extent that you are investing in software technology - which is what this is, it's delivered through software not through hardware - we are trying to commit our resources and out our emphasis on delivering on the promises we made right at the start of this whole PS4 thing, to be forward-looking, socially-connected console."
"We are placing our bets on things like SharePlay, on things like Play as you Download, and things like Suspend/Resume," he added.
Despite confirming that the PlayStation 4 will not get backward compatibility, Ryan hinted that Sony would probably venture into this project if it had enough resources and engineers.
