PS6 Console & Handheld Backward Compatibility with PS4 Games Surfaces in a New Leak

Sony’s next-gen gaming console, PlayStation 6 (PS6 in short) is still far away. Recent rumors have pointed that Sony could launch it alongside rumored PlayStation handheld in 2027’s holiday season. To catch you up, next-gen Xbox, Project Helix, is also rumored to launch later in 2027. Now, a fresh leak served by YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead hints that Sony is reportedly planning full backward compatibility for both the PlayStation 6 and its rumored handheld.

New leak hints PS6 Console and Handheld to support backward compatibility with PS4 games

If the claims made by YouTuber are accurate, which mostly are, the upcoming PS6 and Handheld could support games from both the PS 4 and PS 5. That means players will have access to a massive existing library right from day one.

“The PlayStation 6, yes, it has backwards compatibility to [PlayStation 4] and [PlayStation 5] and they explicitly say it all over the place. And even the handheld, they explicitly say, it runs PlayStation 6, it runs PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 games.”

At a time when backward compatibility has become a hot topic in the gaming industry, Sony’s move doesn’t sound surprising. In fact, it is important. Not to forget, Microsoft also recently confirmed that its Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program would return in some form this year.

The leak regarding PS6 backward computability reportedly surfaced from an internal AMD slide referencing RDNA 5 architecture. The same material reportedly also mentions AI-powered features like Super Resolution upscaling, alongside ray tracing support that carries over compatibility with PS5 titles. There’s also talk of low-power media playback, which suggests Sony is optimizing heavily for the handheld experience, especially around battery life.

Speaking of the PlayStation Handheld, the leak suggests it won’t be a separate product in the traditional sense. Rather Sonny is reportedly aiming it to make a part of the same PS6 ecosystem, which means it will also be sharing core architecture and features.

All that said, Sony hasn’t officially confirmed anything yet. But it’s still reassuring coming from someone who has a good track record with leaks. As far as the pricing is concerned, some leaks point towards near $700 launch price for the upcoming console.