PS5 won't be backwards compatible with the PS4's scariest game

(Image credit: Konami)

We know from Sony that an "overwhelming majority" of PS4 games will be playable on the PS5 through backwards compatibility. Unfortunately, one of the few games left out will be Silent Hills: PT, one of the greatest horror games of all time despite being a mere demo.

Konami told Gamesradar that Silent Hills: PT 'will not be available on the PS Store, so users won’t be able to re-download the content through the backwards compatibility feature to the PS5.' 

This Sony support page states that you can 'transfer digital games and saved data from a PS4 console to a PS5 console using WiFi data transfer.' However, Konami's statement suggests that this process will only work if the game (or demo) you are transferring has an existing PS5 PS Store page.

The PT demo, created by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro and starring Norman Reedus as the anonymous protagonist, has you circle through the corridors of a haunted house, discovering disturbing secrets while pursued by the terrifying ghost Lisa.

PT was released in 2014 and subsequently removed from the Playstation Store in 2015, so only gamers who had previously downloaded it could still replay it.

It's disappointing yet unsurprising that Konami would continue to keep the demo off of the Playstation Network, given that the game is cancelled and the company's notorious fallout with Kojima.

After PT was cancelled, Kojima left Konami and worked with del Toro and Reedus to create Death Stranding instead. While we gave DS five stars in our review, it's not a horror game and couldn't salve the disappointment many gamers still feel that the mysteries of PT will never be solved.

Potential Konami remakes

Konami has mostly abandoned its traditional video game development over the past few years in favor of pachinko cabinets and desktop gaming PCs. But recent rumors suggest that Konami's classic franchises could be revived on the PS5 — just not PT.

Last year, Konami filed for a Canadian trademark for Silent Hill, suggesting that the company could remake some of the original games with next-gen graphics for the PS5, or reboot the franchise entirely.

Then, rumors emerged that the original Metal Gear Solid would be totally rebuilt for the PS5 and PC. At the same time, HD remasters of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots would also be sold exclusively on the PS5.

Will Konami bring new life to Silent Hill and MGS on the PS5? And more importantly, will these new games deliver the crazy twists and dramatic, verbose storytelling style that gamers came to expect from Kojima games? Only time will tell.

Michael Hicks

Michael Hicks began his freelance writing career with TechRadar in 2016, covering emerging tech like VR and self-driving cars. Nowadays, he works as a staff editor for Android Central, but still writes occasional TR reviews, how-tos and explainers on phones, tablets, smart home devices, and other tech.