Not everyone in your friend’s circle will have the luxury to migrate to the newer gaming console.
So if you have made the leap to PS5, and you still wish to play with your friends on the older console, you may ask “Can you play with PS4 players on PS5?”
Fortunately, the answer to the question is a yes. You CAN play with your friends on PS4 if you own a PS5. HOWEVER, the big caveat here is that it depends upon the game and whether it supports crossplay or not.
In other words, crossplay is NOT supported by all games.
In the following text, I will talk about crossplay and how you can play with your PS4 friends.
What is Crossplay?
Crossplay, or cross-platform play, is a feature that allows gamers on one gaming platform to play with friends on another gaming platform.
There are two types of cross-play:
- Cross-generations cross-play: This is a crossplay between gaming consoles of the same brand i.e PS3, PS4, PS5 crossplay. This type of crossplay is more readily supported.
- Cross-platform cross-play: This type of crossplay entails playing between gamers across different platforms i.e. PS5 crossplay with Xbox or PC gamers. This type of crossplay is NOT readily supported by most games especially if they are exclusive to their parent brand.
So Can You Play with PS4 Players on PS5?
The simple answer to this question is yes, you certainly CAN play with your friends on PS4 if you have a PS5.
But there is a catch.
While the PlayStation 5 is backward compatible with most PlayStation 4 games, that doesn’t automatically mean that PS5 supports crossplay with ALL PS4 games.
Whether this feature is supported or not largely depends on whether the game itself supports crossplay.
Crossplay Depends on the Game You Play
The implementation of crossplay is primarily in the hands of game developers. They decide whether to include crossplay in their games, and with which platforms.
This is the reason why you will find some titles offering NO crossplay and others featuring extensive crossplay between generation and platform.
If your concern is to ONLY play with your friends on PS4, the following is a list of some of the games that support crossplay with PS5:
| Apex Legends | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One |
| Among Us | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Borderlands 3 | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Call of Duty: Warzone | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Call of Duty: Vanguard | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Crash Team Rumble | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One |
| Diablo IV | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| DIRT 5 | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| F1 22 | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Fortnite | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Ghost Recon Frontline | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| GRID Legends | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| MLB The Show 23 | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
| Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One |
| No Man’s Sky | PS5, PS4, Xbox One |
| Outriders | PS5, PS4, Xbox One, PC |
| Rainbow Six Extraction | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Street Fighter 6 | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC |
| Super Animal Royale | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
| Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC |
It is worth noting here that many games are not supported in crossplay between PS4 and PS5. Minecraft, World of Warships, etc are some examples.
Another prime example is Battlefield 2042. Despite this game being available on both PS4 and PS5, PS5 players cannot play Battlefield 2042 with PS4 players.
Another typical game that people ask about is GTA 5. GTA 5 CAN be supported in Crossplay with PS4 players if you own the older PS4 version of the game. If you own the newer enhanced PS5 version or the GTA Online version, then cross-play with PS4 will NOT be supported.
Therefore, if you’re looking to play with friends on PS5, it’s crucial to check whether the specific game supports crossplay.
How to Crossplay between PS4 and PS5?
Assuming you’re playing a game that supports crossplay between PS4 and PS5, the process is usually straightforward.
Most games require you to add friends from other platforms to your in-game friends list.
Here’s a general step-by-step guide:
- Open the game on your console.
- Navigate to the game’s social or friends menu.
- There should be an option to add friends by their username or gamer ID, select it.
- Enter your friend’s username or gamer ID. This would send a request to your friend.
- Once your friend accepts the request, you should be able to team up or play against each other.
The following video shows how to add friends for Crossplay in Fortnite:
PS5 Crossplay With Other Platforms
It is worth mentioning here that PS5 does not just support crossplay with PS4, but also with other platforms.
You will notice that there are many games on PS5 that you can play not just with your friends on PS4, but also with those on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and even Nintendo Switch.
A couple of generations ago, this would have been rather impossible.
For this reason, you will note that none of the consoles of the PS3 generations i.e. PS3 Slim, Xbox 360, etc are ever supported in Crossplay.
Final Words
The short and simple answer to the question “Can You Play With PS4 Players on PS5?” is a yes. You can play many games in crossplay mode.
However, whether this feature is available to a game or not depends upon whether the developers have enabled the crossplay feature in the first place.
