With the advent of Sony’s next-gen console, the PS5, gamers had many questions. Would PS4 games be playable on PS5, for example? The answer to that one turned out to be a resounding “yes”; pretty much all PS4 games can be played on PS5 with no problems, with only a few exceptions. Would PS4 accessories work on PS5? Again, the answer is “for the most part, yes”; barring a few third-party accessories, all official PS4 accessories are fully compatible with PS5, including the PSVR headset (which is getting a successor soon).
With that in mind, one of the most important questions around the PS4 and PS5 ecosystems is thus: can PS4 and PS5 gamers join the same party? It’s a good and important question; after all, many gamers unfortunately still haven’t been able to procure PS5 consoles thanks to a widespread component shortage, so lots of people are still playing games on their PS4. However, they might want to know if they can game with their friends who have been lucky enough to pick up PS5 consoles, so here’s our answer to the question of whether PS4 and PS5 gamers can play together.
PS4 and PS5 gamers can join the same party
Happily, the answer to this question is relatively straightforward. Yes, PS5 and PS4 gamers can join the same party, and they can access all of the functions available to parties; you can chat with your friends, mute players, send messages, and all the other things you can do as part of a party on PS4. All of the party functions are cross-generation, so both PS5 and PS4 gamers can take advantage of them, which is good.
How to join a party on PS5
Joining a party on PS5 is extremely simple, but if you’ve never done it before, it can still be difficult to work out exactly how to do it. Here’s our step-by-step guide to joining a party on your PS5.
PlayStation button and navigate to Game Base.
Game Base is Sony’s new hub for all things social on PS5; it houses your messages, your friends, and your parties.
Head to the Parties tab and select the Plus icon.
When you navigate to the Parties tab, you should see a Plus icon that indicates the ability to create a new party. Since that’s what we’re doing, you want to select that.
Choose the players you want in your party.
This is an important step, because you don’t want to accidentally invite the wrong players. You’ll be shown a list of players to choose from; select the ones you want in the party, then add them to the list. If you choose any players you’re already partied up with, you’ll see those parties as well.
Send a message to your party.
The first thing you need to do to get the ball rolling is send a message to your party, letting them know you’ve created it and for what purpose. Of course, you could just ignore this final step, but that wouldn’t be very sociable, now would it?
How to create a party on PS4
Creating a party on PS4 is a slightly different matter than on PS5; after all, you don’t have access to the Game Base window. Let’s take a look at how to form a party on your PS4.
On your PS4 home screen, head to the Party tab.
To access the Party tab on your PS4 home screen, just press the Up button while you’re on the main menu. You’ll see a list of functions, one of which is Party. From there, you need to select Start Party in order to get a party going.
Choose Create Group
A dropdown menu will appear. From this menu, simply choose Create Group or pick an existing party that you’ve already joined.
Set your party parameters.
You’ll then get to select a number of party parameters including privacy settings, group name, and which players you want to be in the party. Hey presto – your party is created! That wasn’t so difficult, right? Parties persist after a game is completed, so you can quickly and easily start another game with the same people next time.
Can PS5 and PS4 players play together?
The answer to this question is, as you might expect, a little more complicated. Simply put, the answer is “mostly yes”, but there are a few qualifiers. Naturally, whether PS5 and PS4 gamers can enjoy games together depends entirely on the game you’re trying to play and whether it supports crossplay functionality or not. Many games support crossplay; titles like Apex Legends, Among Us, and Call of Duty: Warzone allow you to play alongside friends on PS5 or PS4.
One area in which you will need to be careful here is cross-platform progression. This is distinct from crossplay; it refers to whether or not you can keep all of your rewards, XP, and other items when you migrate from one platform to another. Many games, such as Fortnite, Knockout City, and Rainbow Six Extraction, support cross-platform progression, but a surprising number of games don’t have this feature. Make sure to take a look at a full list of the games that support whichever feature you need before you play so that you don’t get disappointed!
We hope our guide on whether PS5 players can play with PS4 gamers has been helpful. Are you going to be joining a party with your PS4-playing friends? Have you been lucky enough to get your hands on a PS5?
