PS5 backwards compatible compatibility currently only supports PS4 games. This doesn’t include all the PS3 or PS2 games you can play on Sony’s new console via their streaming platform, PS Now. PlayStation 5 owners were surprised to find PS3 games in their consoles’ stores.
It was a mistake. DualShockers claims that the PS3 games that have recently been added to the PlayStation Store’s PS5 shopfront were caused by a bug.
A few popular titles from the seventh generation, such as “Prince of Persia Sands of Time” or “Dead or Alive 5”, were allegedly found in the store. The games were not available for purchase by players, but their appearance of them was enough to spark wild speculations.
Ryan Biniecki, a Twitter user, pointed out that this bug has been reported to Sony’s digital storefront several times before.
The PlayStation Now logo will be displayed beside any old games that are currently on the store. Clicking on the title card will often redirect you to a free trial page of PS Now, writes Gamer.
There have been rumors about a rival Xbox Game Pass. It is codenamed Spartacus. PlayStation Now gift cards were ordered to be phased down in the UK ahead of rumored major overhauls to the service.
This visual bug has prompted many fans to speculate that Sony will offer older games directly on the PlayStation 5 instead of letting players stream them via the cloud, as Game Pass has done for some time.
Sony has yet to comment on the news.
Why PS5 backward compatibility for PS3 games might not be possible – At Least Not Yet
Sony doesn’t offer full backwards compatibility with PS3 games on its PS5. This is because there are good reasons. The hardware changes dramatically between the PS3 era (7th generation) and the PS4 era (8th).
Old PS3 games will need to be reworked before they can be made available on the PS5. This could take time and money that Sony may not be willing or able to invest.
This is because the hardware of the PlayStation 3 is much more different from that of the PS4 which is in turn very similar to that of the PlayStation 5’s, both consoles being very PC-like.
Target PS5 Restock Now Live
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Sony won’t consider it. Xbox already does this. Xbox’s backward compatible tech uses emulators to make modern consoles “think they are older-generation ones” (via Pocket-Lint), which allows them to run games as far back as the OG Xbox era.
These emulators can be run on the Series X (which has almost identical specs as the PS5) and the Series S (which has nearly identical specs to it) so there is no reason why Sony’s rival console wouldn’t. However, only time will tell.
