Sony plans to make PS5 backward compatible with PS3 games directly as an emulator

In announcing a new version of the PlayStation Plus subscription service a few days ago, Sony confirmed that in the PlayStation Plus Premium subscription plan, classic games from the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable can be played via streaming and download, but PlayStation 3 games can only be played via cloud streaming. However, related news alleges that in the future, it may be compatible to play through the emulator function of PlayStation 5.
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According to VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb, although Sony currently plans to use cloud streaming to allow users to play PlayStation 3 classic games on PlayStation 5, it may be easier to play through emulators in the future.

For markets without cloud streaming, PlayStation Plus Deluxe will be offered at a lower price compared to Premium, and includes a catalog of beloved classic games from the original PlayStation, PS2, and PSP generations to download and play, along with time-limited game trials,” reads a PlayStation blog post.

The reason why it is currently necessary to play in the cloud streaming mode is that the hardware architecture of PlayStation 3 was built with a PowerPC-based microprocessor, so it had to be played down through the existing PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 designed with AMD processors. Compatible simulation has always been quite difficult.

However, there are currently market rumors that Sony has started to solve this problem, and it is expected that the PlayStation 5 can successfully execute PlayStation 3 games through an emulator, but it has not been confirmed by Sony.

In the current design, PlayStation 5 can only be directly backward compatible with PlayStation 4 platform games, and it is not even 100% compatible, and the rest must be achieved through emulators.