The official Japanese PlayStation social media account recently confirmed that the next-gen console PlayStation 5 will be able to support PS4 game discs that are backwards compatible.
Game company Sony Interactive Entertainment recently posted a statement on its Japanese Twitter account after a Twitter user claimed that physical PS4 disc will not work when inserted on a PS5 console.
This is what the tweet says (translated by Siliconera):
If the PS4 game is supported by PS5’s compatibility operations, both the disc and digital versions can be played as-is on the PS5. If you are going to play the PS4 game with a disc, please choose the model with the disc drive. We apologize for the insufficiency in the contact support related to PS5’s [backwards] compatibility, as we made the addendum above.
Unfortunately the PS5 Digital Edition does not have this function since it does not have the disc drive. It will have to be the PS4 digital copy of the game from the account that will be upgraded or be playable on the PS5 console.
PlayStation 5 will launch on Nov. 12 for select few countries. The rest of the world will get it on Nov. 19.
Source: Game*Spark via Siliconera