PS3 games popped up on PlayStation Network’s PS5 store

Is it a glitch, or a portent?

Over the past weekend, a small selection of PS3 games appeared, complete with price, on the PS5 version of the PlayStation Network. The appearance of these PS3 titles, as spotted by Jordan Middler for VGC, has sparked hopes in fans that backward compatibility could be headed to Sony’s shiny new console.

Currently, PS5 users are unable to actually purchase any of the games in question — including titles in the Dead or Alive and Prince of Persia franchises — but while these games are available on the PlayStation Now service, they should not be appeared as priced, purchasable titles within PSN. Dead or Alive 5, in fact, shouldn’t even be available as part of the European PlayStation Now service.

Of course, glitches gonna glitch, and this could simply be a coding error providing false listings. After all, there is testimony of similar store slip-ups happening before. Regardless, it’s difficult not to find this intriguing, given not only PlayStation architect Mark Cerny’s recent backward compatibility patent, but also the rumor that Sony is getting set to launch its own Xbox Game Pass-style subscription service. We’re unlikely to hear official confirmation either way. So, for now, this is something of a wait-and-see situation. Whether this is smoke or fire, clearly PlayStation has the concept on its desk either way.

Would be great to have that huge PS3 catalog back in action though… Let’s go, WWE All-Stars.