Perhaps noting the fangasm caused by Xbox’s announcement that it would be bringing free backwards compatibility for hundreds of games Xbox 360 to Xbox One, Sony Corp has revealed that it is working on supporting full PlayStation 2 emulation on the PlayStation 4.

So far, details about PS2 support on the PS4 are sparse, other than Sony’s confirmation that it is indeed working on it.

“We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation,” a Sony representative told Wired in an email. “We have nothing further to comment at this point in time.”

This leaves many unanswered questions about what exactly the PS2 emulation will entail. Will the games be free for players who already own them (as is the case for backwards compatibility on Xbox One), or will they be required to purchase the games all over again? What about for PS2 games that were bought through the PlayStation Network on the PS3? Will we ever see the same kind of support for PS3 games?

According to Wired, there are already a few games that have been released using PS2 emulation rather than being ported to the new system, including Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, all of which come with the new Star Wars Battlefront PS4 bundle.

Sony’s on-again, off-again relationship with backwards compatibility

This would not be the first time Sony offered backwards compatibility for the PlayStation. A major selling point for the PlayStation 3 when it was first released was the fact that it fully supported PlayStation 2 games without any additional hardware or updates needed.

This was actually one of the main reasons that the original PS3 was so bulky—it essentially had a PS2 crammed inside of it. This is why the skinnier PlayStation 3 Slim version, which was released a few years later, did not support PS2 games.

After Xbox made its backwards compatibility announcement at E3, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida commended Microsoft for its feat, but he said that “I never say never, but we have no plans” to bring PS3 games to PS4.

photo credit: 2013 E3 – Unfriendly Neighbors B via photopin (license)