The PlayStation 5 can do practically everything the PS4 can, with only a small handful of games and features getting left behind. (Bye-bye, 3D Blu-ray.) But there may be one compelling reason to keep your PS4 around: you could pick up where you left off in a PS5 game from another room of your house.
Sony confirmed today that the existing PS4 will soon let you access your other PlayStation consoles remotely, including the PS5:
We’re updating PS4’s Remote Play feature. Now, in addition to being able to access your PS4 from a PC or a mobile device, your PS4 can access other consoles via Remote Play too, right on your TV. This includes the ability to connect to your PS5 and stream a PS5 game to your PS4 so you can play it there.
VGC and Eurogamer reported today that a “PS5 Remote Play” app has already popped up on the PS4, offering up to a 1080p stream from your new console to your existing one. Perhaps you’ll hook up your PS4 to the bedroom TV — or the living room if you keep your primary console in the den?
You don’t necessarily need a PS4 to stream a PS5 to another room of your house, though, since the PS Remote Play app is getting updated on other platforms as well. The Windows version not only adds PS5 support at 1080p but also HDR:
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Sony’s PS Remote Play apps for Android and iOS have been updated for the PS5, and we’d be surprised if the Mac version wasn’t ready as well. You’ll probably need a good phone / controller mount for those, though.
You can also do a lot of other things on the PS5 from your phone with Sony’s separate PlayStation App, which recently received an overhaul.
As some have pointed out, the idea that you’ll be able to play PS5 games with a PS4 DualShock 4 controller by streaming them across your house with PS5 Remote Play does point out one weird limitation of the PlayStation 5 itself: on an actual PS5, you can’t use a DualShock 4 to play PS5 games, only PS4 ones.
