Considering that Sony hadn't said a word about backward compatibility on PS5 for any previous generation other than the PS4, it stood to reason that everything between the PS1 and PS3 wouldn't be able to be played on the next-gen platform. After months of lingering questions about this topic, Sony's Jim Ryan has finally put the topic to bed.

Speaking to Famitsu (and translated by the fine folks over at Siliconera), PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan was asked about the possibility of games across PS1, PS2, and PS3 eras being playable on the forthcoming PS5. Ryan said that PS4 forward compatibility was a key point for Sony when creating the PS5, but due to its focus on other new technologies like the console's SSD and the DualSense controller, the company couldn't make older games playable on the platform. "So, unfortunately, we couldn’t reach the implementation of such compatibilities," Ryan said simply.

Again, with us being so close to the launch of the PS5 itself at this point, nothing that Ryan is saying here should be earth-shattering by any means. That being said, it still is somewhat of a bummer. The fact that PlayStation's biggest competitor in Microsoft has been able to implement near-full backward compatibility that extends to the first-generation of the Xbox on both the Xbox One and the upcoming Xbox Series X, there was hope that Sony would be able to do the same. Sadly, I guess we'll just have to keep crossing our fingers and hoping that this functionality comes about by the time the PlayStation 6 rolls around.

The PS5 is due out in a little under two months and will launch on November 12 at $399 and $499. While you won't be able to play your PS3 games on the new machine, at least 99% of your existing PS4 library should be able to make the jump with you.