PlayStation 5: Should You Keep Your PS4 Controllers
PlayStation 5 games will not be playable with a PS4 controller, although the latter is compatible with the new Sony console. However, DualShock 4 controllers can be used for cross-gen games, as long as you launch the PS4 version.
Sony has accustomed us to taking limited risks by equipping its successive generations of consoles with controllers tailored around the broad lines of the original DualShock, launched in 1998 for the first PlayStation. Until the DualShock 4, which proved that it was possible to brilliantly evolve a design that PlayStation players cherished so much. The transition to the PlayStation 5, however, is an opportunity to completely reshuffle the deck and abandon the DualShock for a brand-new controller focused on tactile sensations.
Called DualSense, this controller has obviously been examined as soon as it arrived at the editorial office and it turns out that it innovates both in terms of form (with its modernized look and rounded curves) and in terms of content (via the presence of haptic motors and adaptive triggers).
We’re very excited about this controller, and we hope that developers will make the most of it to add immersive haptic feedback to their PS5 games. Yes, the DualSense is designed to play PlayStation 5 games, and it’s probably no secret that Sony’s console will be backwards compatible with most PS4 games and that some games will be cross-gen, with both PS4 and PS5 versions. Thus, on some titles, the publisher will allow PS5 players to also download (if they wish) the PS4 version of the game. This will be the case, for example, for the best-selling game in France every year, FIFA. But why on earth would you download the PS4 version of FIFA 21 on PS5? Answer: because of the controllers.
Multiplayer On FIFA 21 With DualShock: You’ll Have To Install The PS4 Version On PS5
FIFA 21 is indeed a perfect example of the somewhat crazy situation that will exist regarding controller management on PlayStation 5. Let’s imagine a very plausible scenario: you bought a PS5 and FIFA 21. You invite your friends to play it with you, but you only have one DualSense controller (knowing that the official pad will, as always, be sold at a golden price of €70). So, they come up with their PS4 controllers, compatible with the PS5 on paper. The problem is that it will be impossible to play the PS5 version of FIFA 21 locally with several players! You’ll have to make it with the PS4 version of the game, which you can install on your console alongside the next-gen version – fortunately at no extra cost.
An example that applies to the entire game library. In short, it won’t be possible to play a PS5 game with a DualShock 4 controller. Playing a PS4 game with a DualSense controller won’t be a problem. A limitation we’ve known about since last August, but which obviously deserved to be clarified for multiplayer games – with or without backwards compatibility, cross-gen or not. So, if you’re thinking of selling your PlayStation 4 to finance the purchase of a PS5, and you’re thinking of keeping your DualShock 4s to help out during multiplayer sessions, you should know that you’ll be limited to PS4 games and versions.
To sum up, if you’re thinking of playing multiplayer games that are also available on PS4, maybe keep one or more DualShock 4s. And, if you’re only thinking of playing PS5 games or PS4 games solo, you can get rid of your PS4 controllers.
