PlayStation 3 games have mysteriously been appearing on the PS Store

Over the weekend, a number of PlayStation players discovered that PlayStation 3 games have been appearing on the PS5’s storefront, giving hope that more backwards compatibility is on its way to the console. 

Spotting PlayStation 3 titles on the PlayStation Store may seem like no big deal, they are PlayStation games after all, however, the recent spottings haven’t been the typical PlayStation Now listings that we’ve come to expect, as instead, they’ve had their own prices.

While not every user has been able to see these individually priced game listings, the reports from PS5 owners across social media have been more than enough to send the PlayStation community into a backwards compatibility based frenzy. 

To add even more fuel to the fire, a parent titled “backward compatibility through the use of spoof clock and fine grain frequency control” was recently discovered being filed by PS5 system architect Mark Cerny, as Push Square reports, giving fans even more hope for the backwards compatibility they so long for. 

Another one (both not available on PS Now) pic.twitter.com/ryM8JScgdu

— GameRiot (@GameRiotArmy) January 16, 2022

With no official announcement from Sony themselves, it’s unclear just what these mysterious PlayStation 3 listings are doing on the PlayStation 5’s storefront however it’s likely that it has something to do with Sony’s upcoming revamped PlayStation Plus subscription which is currently codenamed “Spartacus.”

According to a Bloomberg report from last year, the revamped PlayStation Plus service will be available in three tiers. The first tier will reportedly be equivalent to existing PlayStation Plus offerings, while the second tier gives users access to a catalogue of PlayStation 4 and PS5 games to download and play. 

The third and final tier is where these PlayStation 3 games come into play, as it’s believed that as well as offering the on-demand streaming service of PlayStation Now, this third tier will allow players to access a catalogue of classic PlayStation 1, 2, 3, and PSP games.

Sony has yet to announce anything about this Xbox Game Pass competitor officially, but with its release rumoured for Spring, we should be seeing information about it soon.