Rumor: Sony may be working on native PS3 BC for PS5

https://gamerant.com/sony-native-ps3-backwards-compatibility-in-development-rumor/

Sony could be working on a solution to make PlayStation 3 games natively playable on PS5consoles, according to recent claims made by a reputable insider. Despite some of Sony's latest efforts to remedy the issue, the PS5's underwhelming backwards compatibility has been a consistent point of criticism for the otherwise impressive current-gen consoles, in large part because most games from previous PlayStation generations (sans the PS4 era) aren't playable on the PS5. If this rumor is to be believed, though, then Sony might finally fix one of the biggest flaws with its current hardware offering by providing native support for PlayStation 3 games on PS5.

Although Sony does sometimes add ports of older PlayStation games to the PS Plus Premium Classics Catalog, the PS5's backwards compatibility still leaves a lot to be desired. After all, the large majority of PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, and PS Vita games are not playable on modern PlayStation platforms. In fact, the titles from those console generations that can be played on Sony's latest hardware often come with some caveats. For one, these classic games are only available digitally on the platform, meaning that the original physical copies of these titles aren't supported on the PS5. Additionally, in the case of PS3 games, gamers need to be persistently connected to the internet to play them on PS5, as they are only available via cloud streaming.

The PS3 deserves to be remembered fondly for its extensive library of games, with some of the best titles in all of gaming featured on this console.

While PlayStation owners might not be able to insert and run their PS2 discs on their PS5s anytime soon, they may soon have the ability to play PS3 games on Sony's modern consoles without having to stream them through the cloud. That's, at least, according to the credible insider Shpeshal_Nick, who alleged on the latest episode of the XboxEra podcast that Sony is reportedly planning to make PS3 games natively playable on the PS5. The reputable leaker's sources apparently told him that "Sony is working on select PlayStation 3 backwards compatibility for the PS5."

The word "select" in this context seemingly indicates that Sony will individually handpick some PS3 titles to make playable on the PS5, similar to what Microsoft did with thebackwards compatible games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. When this was mentioned, a chat member from the livestreamed podcast brought up the idea of PS3 games potentially having their framerates and resolutions boosted on the PS5. However, when asked, Shpeshal_Nick said that he wasn't exactly sure about the specifics. "I didn't get any more details than that. Will it have FPS boost? I've got no idea. . . All I heard was that Sony's working on selective PlayStation 3 backwards compatibility."

Thoughts, SW? You think this will happen? It’s kind of hard to believe to be honest. But if they did, that would be great. I could get rid of my PS3 lol. As long as it plays MGS 4 that is.

Zero interest. Didn't buy a ps5 for BC, remasters or remakes. Give me the new shit, its been over 4 years into this generation and there's nothing on the horizon other than a shitty SBI Edited Wolverine game. Multi billion dollars company that is incapable of releasing video games lmao fking pathetic.

To be honest with you, I think you’re a Herm. It’s time to sell the PS5 🫤

Because i own the newest Sony system, and want to play NEW games on a NEW system?

You don’t seem happy with it. I think you’re much happier being with the PC Master Race.

I'm not holding my breath, but that would be great.

Hermits are afraid of Elden Ring. Never do i want to be anywhere near them. As for being happy, happy with what exactly? Sony forgot what it is to release video games. Buying exclusivity from third party devs was never the reason to own a Sony system, and that's all they have this generation.

That’s what I’m saying lol. Sony has let you down.

It's kind of bizarre watching Sony lag so far behind MS on this kind of stuff.. but I guess it doesn't matter if they selling PS5s anyway

Yeah I doubt it.

They let every cow down, some are still coping and refusing to accept it. What Sony has done this generation is what MS has been doing to lemming for about 15 years straight.

Really wish Microsoft would've continued with this initiative, they missed a lot from Xbox og and 360.

That's pretty cool- hope it works out.

I can see them doing it for next Gen (hopefully)

I don't see Sony or MS introducing any major features so late in the gen.

That would be great. Got a bunch of PS3 games. Some I would enjoy playing again and some I haven’t beaten yet. It would be much more convenient then hooking up the PS3 again.

I have no idea if it will happen. Support for original games would be cool, but that's why I didn't get rid of my original systems. Anyway emulation support for PS3 is very good nowadays if you want to go that way. Works great on Steam Deck.

Hope this is true, and covers most of my collection.

I wish all gen ps games worked so I could get rid of my ps3 fat.

Why didn't I think of that? Oh, my PS3s broke.

That's nice for folks looking to get into legacy collections... More of a niche feature. Ps3 had some good original franchises so it would make a few people happy to have them. Ps3 emulation has been stuck behind the cell processor for a while now.

Hardy is right though, a true gamer won't pacify their bias and pretend people bought a ps5 for ps3 emulation... Where are the Sony games?

Sorry Solid, but for once, hardwenzen is right. Some of us bought PS5 to play PS5 exclusives, not for legacy/retro gaming. Look, I get that Backwards Compatibility is on the rage these days, but why should Sony waste resources just to bring PS3 games to PS5 when, truth be told, Remaking PS3 games is a better solution as most PS3 games weren't made for future-proof and by that, most PS3 games didn't exactly age well when it comes to gameplay. I have had many times trying to replay Uncharted Drake's Fortune, and hopefully, that rumor it's being remade comes true.

I'm not all fussy about where the games at because development is on a new level scale, and making games is gonna take longer; this isn't the 7th gen folks.

Even GirlUSoCrazy said it best, keep your old systems if you wanna play retro gaming. I still got my PS3 but I don't see myself replaying PS3 games anytime soon. (I like to replay Heavenly Sword, but it needs a remake, not to be played natively on PS5)

I guess I’m living in an alternative realm, because I put 150 hours into FF7 Rebirth, 30hours into Stellar Blade, 30 hours into Spider-Man 2, 60 hours into FF16, and I’m going to be getting Astro Bot in a few months. All PS5 exclusives at this moment 😎

Would be nice, especially if there's a performance boost.... be the first nice thing Sony's done in like a decade.

@SolidGame_basic: This would be awesome in my opinion. Still lots of great games that were never remade or remastered.

Would be a very good move on Sony's part, but I don't think it's going to happen. I think they're more likely to sell PS3 games as digital games, which isn't as cool.

PS3/360 gen was quite choppy. If it could get all those games that used to struggle running smoothly at 1080p/60 or even just 1080p/30 it might be quite interesting. But with the PS3's funky architecture isn't this a bit dubious being able to get any performance improvement on PS5? I guess it all depends on that. Not really interested in a straight emulation if I'm honest. has to have a performance boost.

Yeah would definitely like them to get a performance boost as well. At the very least get dramatically shortened load times.

BS Jive has no new games. lol :P

Emulating Cell CPU code onto an x86 CPU is bound to be challenging but doable.

Surely it would be the other way around. Maybe Sony has finally managed to tap into the power of Teh Cell and plan to demonstrate it by having the PS3 emulate PS4 and PS5 games :P.

In all seriousness though....maybe? Ports and remasters have been more their M.O. when it comes to getting older content on newer systems. Who doesn't like making money off a port?

Still, doing that probably doesn't make sense for more niche PS2 and 3 games. The streaming solution is also not going to work forever (as I understand it they basically use PS3s to stream when people want to play PS3 games). So if they want to be able to continue to deliver that content then they will need to look at alternatives.

On a side note, and this is probably too niche to make it worthwhile, but it would be cool is Sony made THE Playstation. 800ishbucks. Ps5 Pro specs AND it also has all the hardware/software needed to play every single playstation game: Both physical and digital. CDs, UMDs, Vita cards etc. All work. Have it in a gorgeous design in a case made of metal.

I suspect their PS5 Cloud Streaming will be around for quite a while, so it makes sense to try to move off requiring PS3 hardware to stream said games.

Not sure what good it'll do unless they make a bunch of the older titles available digitally.

While they're at it, bring back the PS3's digital BC store for PS1/PS2 classics and the user rights tied to them, that'd be huge IMO.

It would be cool if it was true, but I have my doubts.

I still think they should just make "mini" consoles(with disc drives) for each of their legacy systems. Have a small form factor, make them stackable, and the ability to daisy chain them together, so you can use the most current system in the 'chain' to interface with any of the systems. That way you could buy them piecemeal, and have the ability to buy a replacement for your old consoles. I don't know if it's possible, but if you could use the processing power of the newer consoles to improve the quality of the older games, that would be cool too.

Aside from MGS5 i couldnt careless about any PS3 games.

No interest. I still play PS4 games, but don't really feel like going back further than that. Hope this is true though because game preservation and all.

Err...considering how bad their own PS2 emulator is, I don't think so.

I think u mean mgs4. .

They should work on porting their legacy games to pc and open new revenue.

Sounds like for poo Phony it's like RocketSurgery. lolol :P

Sony currently hard at work trying to make this happen.

@Archangel3371 said:

Sony currently hard at work trying to make this happen.

lolol :P

@SecretPolice: They really putting them Cow dollars to work. LOL

@TheEroica: lol yeah mgs4. Mgs4 and uncharted df are the only memorable games for me in PS3.

Does this mean I can just play my PS3 discs on PS5?

Confusing language. It’s not going to be native. That sounds like PS3 hardware.

Also it won’t be like on Xbox, because that actually does have some Xbox 360 hardware built in to accelerate XNA files and audio files I think. That’s why Xbox 360 games actually perform better on newer consoles. They also re-compiled the games or something.

It sounds like it’ll be more like how Original Xbox games run on newer consoles, using software emulation.

"We believe in generations"

Maybe in 2 years it could become a reality playing downloadable PS3 games. I gave my brother my PS3 so can't play any downloadabke games.

A rumor? WTF. Took Sony long enough to realise that jesus christ. They should have looked into backwards compatability back in the PS3 or PS4 days. How can it take more than 10 years when Xbox have already found a solution.

Gamers: And they're doing this out of the goodness of their heart, right? 😊

Sony: 😉

Gamers: Out of the goodness of their heart...right? 😟

Sony: 😏