PlayStationdoes not have the best history with its relationship with older titles. While many fans love a dose of nostalgia through playing older games that have meaning to them, often gaming companies are looking primarily to the next big game and the future of the industry. InPlayStation’s case, newer consoles did not initially grant players backwards compatibility. However, this has changed in recent times with the announcement of the new PlayStation Plus subscription packages.
PlayStation Plus Premium offers users hundreds of titlesfrom the history of Sony’s consoles, making it seem that the company is finally taking care of its older franchises. Another reason to believe that PlayStation is keen on breathing life back into some of its previous titles is through its Preservation Team, which has been unofficially revealed via a senior build engineer at the company. The employee posted on April 25 that they worked as an initial hire for the “newly created Preservation Team.”
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While not much is known on the Preservation Team’s purpose, looking at the name it can be largely assumed that the team will have something to do with keeping old games alive. Preserving the history of gaming is something that many gamers consider deeply important to the industry. Last NovemberXbox boss Phil Spencerstated that the game industry should embrace the need for emulation believing it is key to preserving older and influential titles.
While preservation may be something PlayStation is working on only recently, for other platform owners like Nintendo preservation through emulation has been going on for quite some time.Nintendo Switch Online has been allowing players to pick up classic NES and SNES titlesfor years now, and recent reports have confirmed that the company will next be bringing Game Boy Advance titles to the subscription service next. While gaming preservation can take place through multiple means, emulation seems the most likely course of action for PlayStation’s Preservation Team, especially considering the company’s plans with PlayStation Plus Premium.
The Preservation Team will hopefully mark a change inSony’s prior approach to console and game preservation. Even as newer franchises such asHorizon Zero Dawnand the rebootedGod of Warcontinue to bring fans over to PlayStation, there are plenty of older franchises that gamers believe should at least be preserved if not remade. Popular PlayStation exclusives likeKillzoneandSly Cooperhaven’t seen a mainline title in years.
