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PS3 games appear on PS5 store as backward compatibility rumours rage

Sony could finally be expanding the backward compatibility possibilities on PS5, after a number of PS3 games showed up on on the PlayStation Store.

Over the weekend, games like the PS3 title Dead or Alive 5 were briefly seen on the PS5 store. Usually this would redirect users to the PlayStation Now service, where some last-last-gen titles are available. However, this one had a price tag; £7.99.

VGC reports social media users have also spied other PS3 games like Bejeweled and a pair of Prince of Persia games: The Forgotten Sands and The Two Thrones. None of them, including DoA5, were actually available for purchase.

The appearance of the titles comes amid the backdrop of rumours the PlayStation-maker is working on making much more of its vast legacy library available through backward compatibility.

Particularly, an updated patent from PlayStation lead designer Mark Cerny, which pointed to “backward compatibility through the use of spoof clock and fine grain frequency control.” That could involve Sony altering the speeds of PlayStation 5’s ultra powerful processors, making emulation of older games easier. However, that patent isn’t brand new, just an updated version of an older one.

Sony is also rumoured to be launching a full-on Xbox Game Pass rival, which could bring the best of the PS Plus online membership and the PS Now streaming service into one enhanced package.

According to reports, the service is codenamed Spartacus and may launch this spring. It would finally give PlayStation loyalists the type of value proposition Xbox gamers have become used to. In reports over the weekend, the Xbox boss Phil Spencer called Sony’s answer to Game Pass “an inevitability” and “the right thing” for gamers.

Which early-generation PlayStation games would you like to enjoy on your PS5? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.

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