Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Well, it sounds like P.T. is safe for another PlayStation generation

Transferrable hills.

This week, Sony published a support page answering some of the outstanding questions we had about the PlayStation 5 and backwards compatibility. In there is a line I skimmed over upon first reading, but now I've gone back and had a thorough rummage, I've come to a realisation: P.T. is safe for another generation.

The line in question confirms you can indeed transfer digital games and saved data from a PlayStation 4 to a PS5 via WiFi. You can also access PS4 games on a PS5 directly from a PS5 extended storage drive.

I assumed this would be the case, but it was still great to see it in writing. And it got me thinking: it means I can transfer P.T., the "playable teaser" Hideo Kojima and co concocted for the cancelled Silent Hills project, from my base PS4, where it has sat under lock and key ever since it was delisted from the PlayStation Store, to a PS5 when I end up getting one. And given P.T. is not on Sony's list of 10 PS4 games that won't work on PS5, I assume I'll be able to play it on the next-gen console, too.

Watch on YouTube

P.T. was pulled from the PlayStation Network over five years ago, on Wednesday, 29th April 2015, amid Kojima's acrimonious exit from Konami and the cancellation of Silent Hills. It is no longer available to re-download, even if you've downloaded the game previously, which is why PS4s with P.T. installed cost a premium on eBay, and why there are eye-catching fan remakes doing the rounds.

My base PS4 is not long for this world, I fear. It sounds like an airport runway even when running Netflix, and it groans like a grandad getting up from a comfy chair whenever I press the PlayStation button to switch to the dashboard. I fear for P.T., that most precious of horror games. I have considered backing it up to an external drive for safe keeping but, honestly dear reader, I have an irrational fear of losing P.T. in the process. These sorts of things tend to happen to me.

Safe and sound. For now.

My plan now is to transfer P.T. to a PS5 when I make the inevitable switch, and I am pretty happy with that plan. There I imagine it will rest for another console generation, for seven years, more or less, until the PlayStation 6 comes out and I do this all over again. And after the PlayStation 6? Well, by then I suppose I'll be able to transfer P.T. directly into my brain, and play it in my mind's eye.

Try selling that on eBay.