Sony gives your PS4 a second life: attach a PS5 to another room in your home

The PlayStation 5 can do pretty much anything the PS4 can do, with just a small handful of games and features left behind. (Bye, Blu-ray 3D.) But there may be a compelling reason to keep your PS4 handy: you can pick up where you left off in a PS5 game from another room in your home.

Sony today confirmed that the existing PS4 will soon allow you to access your other Remote PlayStation consoles, including PS5:

We are updating the remote play functionality of the PS4. Now, in addition to being able to access your PS4 from a PC or mobile device, your PS4 can also access other consoles via Remote Play, right on your TV. This includes the ability to connect to your PS5 and stream a PS5 game to your PS4 so that you can play it.

VGC and Eurogamer reported today that a ‘PS5 Remote Play’ app has already appeared on the PS4, delivering up to 1080p stream from your new console to your existing console. Maybe you’ll hook up your PS4 to the bedroom TV – or the living room if you keep your main console in the living room?

However, you don’t necessarily need a PS4 to stream a PS5 to another room in your home, as the PS Remote Play app is updated on other platforms as well. The Windows version not only adds support for PS5 at 1080p, but also HDR:

Screenshot: Sean Hollister / The Verge

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 will probably need a good phone / controller holder for these, however.

You can also do a lot of other things on the PS5 from your phone with Sony’s separate PlayStation app, which has recently undergone a redesign.

As some have pointed out, the idea that you will be able to play PS5 games with a PS4 DualShock 4 controller by streaming them throughout your home with the PS5 Remote Play highlights a weird limitation of the PlayStation 5 itself: on a PS5. real, you cannot use a DualShock 4 to play PS5 games, only PS4 games.