A collective sigh of relief was had when Sony announced that its new PlayStation 5 console would be backwards compatible with PlayStation 4 games. The PS5 boasts some impressive hardware features, like an SSD that improves loading times and ray tracing for incredible visual detail. But the good news is that PS4 games can also benefit from the PS5’s upgraded features.
Many PS4 games got a nice upgrade when the PS4 Pro released with its Boost Mode feature. The PS5 is taking this one step further with its Game Boost ability, which will automatically improve loading speeds and provide better and more stable framerates.
However, the fun really begins for those PS4 games with unlocked frame rates and dynamic resolution which receive even better performance on the PS5 from day one.
How to tell which games are optimised for PS5
Update: A great website known as backwards-compatible has been meticulously compiling which PS4 games are playable on the PS5 and their stats. The website has currently tested 577 titles and counting.
The website breaks down things like which games are locked at 60 or 30 FPS, if they have HDR capabilities and if the game performs best on a PS5 console. As seen in the image below, games like God of War and Ghost of Tsushima perform best on the PS5 locked and they are locked at 60fps.
Locked 60fps is the peak standard to strive for according to Resetera as this results in the fewest frame drops possible. You can see all the titles locked at 60fps that have been logged here.
Searching for an individual title will also reveal stats such as the frame rate of the game on the PS4 and PS4 Pro vs the PS5 and it will alert you if the game has had any noticeable visual glitches or issues. You can also filter your search for specific resolutions or framerates.
This website has mainly been compiled from data by the folks over at Resetera who also have a very extensive and useful list of titles.
PS4 Games That Have Unlocked Framerates
It can be hard to know which PS4 games out there will look the best on PS5. But now that many lucky souls are gaining access to their PS5s, here’s a list compiled, from Reddit, of all the known PS4 games with unlocked framerates so far:
- ABZU
- Anthem
- Assassin’s Creed: Unity
- Battlefield 1
- Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
- Borderlands 3
- Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin
- Dark Souls 3
- Dark Souls Remastered
- DOOM (2016)
- DOOM Eternal
- F1 2018 / F1 2019
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Final Fantasy XV
- Fortnite
- God of War
- Hitman 1/2
- Infamous: Second Son
- Injustice 2
- Killzone: Shadow Fall
- Kingdom Hearts 3
- Little Nightmares
- Monster Hunter World
- Nex Machina
- No Man’s Sky
- Resident Evil 2/3
- Rez Infinite
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Saints Row 3
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Steep
- The Witness
- Thumper
- Trackmania Turbo
- Uncharted 4 (Multiplayer)
- Victor Vran: Overkill Edition
- Wipeout Omega Collection
- Wolfenstein II
The games above were patched for the PS4 Pro with unlocked frame rates, but despite targeting 60fps many games fell well short of that target — or frequently suffered from stuttering, jitters and general instability trying to get there. With the PS5’s additional power, these games no have no problem maintaining a much smoother frame rate, leading to a vastly better experience.
Note that many of the games from the Reddit list above are also listed as locked at 60fps by backwards-compatible.com and you can check out their full stats and optimisations over on the website.
Some games will also take advantage of 4K and HDR resolution where possible. The PS5 is known to be capable of 8K displays at launch but Sony has said that after a future system software update the console will be able to output 8K resolutions as well, where available.
It’s likely that many PS4 games will receive an update or patch that allows for better framerates and other PS5 features in the future. The Last of Us Remastered recently got such an update that effectively cut all of its loading times, so prepare yourself for an onslaught of patches in the coming months.
This article has been updated with additional information.