PS5 remote play app unexpectedly arrives on PS4, suggesting players will be able to get next-gen games on their current console

(Sony)

A “PS5 remote play” app is starting to appear on people’s PlayStation 4s, suggesting that the console is getting a new and seemingly unannounced feature.

Based on the prompts that appear in the app, the remote play feature seems to allow people to use their PS4 to connect to their new PS5, and play next-generation games on their older consoles.

Sony has long offered the ability to remotely play a PS4 on a phone or tablet. It has confirmed that same feature will come to the PlayStation 5.

But it had not indicated that it would also add the same feature to its PlayStation consoles. Sony does not appear to have officially announced either the feature or the new app.

Instead, it simply began to arrive on consoles around the world on the morning of 9 November, seemingly in an automatic software update.

When it does arrive, it will appear on the console’s home screen alongside the usual apps and games.

The update is presumably intended to allow the PlayStation 4 to still be used after players get hold of the next-generation consoles, later this month. If the arrival of a new console meant moving the PS4 out of the living room and into the bedroom, for instance, it will still be able to play games that are only available on the PS5.

The PlayStation 4 will still have some limitations when streaming content from their new console. Users can choose to stream content in 540p, 720p and 1080p; the PlayStation 5 can output up to 8K video.

The PlayStation 5 will arrive in countries including the US and Japan on 12 November. It will then be available in the rest of the world, including the UK, on 19 November.

Actually getting hold of them appears to be very difficult, however. Sony has been forced to apologise for the problems with reserving the consoles, and any pre-orders that do become available sell out almost instantly.