Last night, a glitch with the PlayStation Network caused all PlayStation 4 trophies to disappear and be replaced with PS3 logos. The visual glitch showed all PS4 games as having 0% completion on trophy lists and replaced the PS4 logo next to the games with a PS3 logo. Only PS5 games were unaffected by the bug. The glitch is yet more fuel on the fire of PlayStation backwards compatibility.
Recently, rumors have been making the rounds that Sony is working on bringing substantial backwards compatibility options to the PS5. Currently, the PS5 is only backwards compatible with PS4 games. The current suggestion is that Sony is working on bringing PS1, PS2, and/or PS3 games to the next-gen console. Speculation started earlier this month when it was revealed that Sony had filed a patent for making old games work on new systems. Naturally, with patents, many people took it with a grain of salt. However, since then some weird issues have stoked the flames. Last week, just a few days after the patent was discovered, PS3 games began appearing on the PS5 version of the PlayStation Store. The games appeared complete with prices, though they couldn’t actually be purchased. The PS3 listings on the PS5 store should have just sent users to PlayStation Now. Now, there has been this trophy glitch.
The PlayStation backwards compatibility speculation is also tied into the rumors that Sony is coming up with a competitor for Game Pass. According to current reports, Sony’s service would combine PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. PS Now would then cease to exist as a standalone service. That has raised questions about whether backwards compatibility may factor into Sony’s Game Pass competitor as PS Now contains a lot of older games. Microsoft already has a history of bringing older Xbox and Xbox 360 titles to Game Pass so it’s not impossible that Sony may try the same thing. Although it’s not clear if backwards compatibility is on the way, there’s an awful lot of smoke. And where there’s smoke there’s usually fire.
