We all love to go back and play classic games from time to time. Like, I still cannot get over the PS3 & Xbox 360 era.
Whenever I have time, I turn up my PlayStation 5 console and play my all-time favorite PS3 game, Batman Arkham origins. Even a few years back, emulating PlayStation 3 games on any new generation of the console was a dream.
But all thanks to Sony, we can now play PS3 games on our next-gen console. Many people don’t know how to do that on their PlayStation 5.
As a PS5 user, I am going to write a complete step-by-step guide so that you don’t have to look elsewhere to play the classic PlayStation games on your PS5.
So put on your reading glasses to get your run your PS3 games on PlayStation 5!
Check out our latest post to fix PS5 controller keeps disconnecting from PC.
Can I Play PS3 Games On A PS5?
Yes, you can play PlayStation 3 games on a PS5. However, you cannot directly buy the games from the store and play them on your PlayStation 5. You have a very limited game library because of the PS Plus premium subscription, which is only available in PSN regions 1 & 2.
Before the new PS Plus tiers, you could play the PlayStation 3 games on your PS4&PS5. All thanks to the PlayStation Now application.
The only problem was that the PS Now would only let you stream the PS3 games. You could never download them and play them on your PlayStation consoles. Another problem was that the PlayStation Now had very tricky servers, which would only let you in if you had a constant 50Mbps connection.
On top of it, to stream the games on ‘PS Now,’ you needed a wired connection to play the games via streaming.
Now many PlayStation gamers don’t opt for a wired connection because they don’t play that many multiplayer games. So people who are casual gamers always avoid the wire and stick to a Wifi connection.
The bottom line is PS Now was highly unreliable for cloud streaming the games, and Sony needed another room to stream the PS3 games. And that is why they have merged PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into one single platform.
With the new PlayStation Plus tiers, you can stream not just the PS3 games but all the classic PS1, PS2 & PSP games.
Now you might ask, why can’t we download PS3 games on PS5?
PlayStation 3 was launched with a very complicated architecture. So it was hard for the developers to even make their games on it. And making the PS3 games backward compatible is a notch harder, which is why Sony had to stick with streaming the PS3 games on PS5.
You may also like to read fastest DNS server for PS5.
How To Play PS3 Games On PS5
To play PS3 games, you need a PlayStation Network account in regions 1 or 2. Also, you need a stable internet connection to cloud stream the games on your PS5. After that, you have to buy a monthly subscription of PS Plus premium to be able to stream the PS3 games on your PS5.
As I have said earlier, the PlayStation Now cloud wasn’t as reliable as the cloud gaming of Xbox. Most people couldn’t even get into a game on the PS Now, let alone play it, which pushed Sony to improve its game library to compete with the Xbox game pass.
This is the reason why Sony merged its PS Plus subscription with PS Now. To give the fanbase a complete gaming library along with the ability to play online with your friends.
But as it is a subscription-based model, the negative point is that games will leave the platform as time continues. For example, you can no longer stream Red dead Redemption 1 on your PS5. The only way to play this PS3 title at this moment would be to get an Xbox One or higher console.
Now let’s go down to the steps and launch PS3 games on your PS5.
Related contents you should read on fix PS5 triangle button not working.
Follow the steps to play PS3 games on PS5:
1. Get A Stable Internet Connection
You already know that you cannot natively download PS3 games on your PlayStation 5 and play. The only option is cloud streaming, and for that, you need a good internet connection.
If you want to use cloud streaming on your PS4, PS5, or PC, you’ll need a broadband connection and an internet speed of at least 5Mbps. And the internet speed for 1080p streaming of games would be around 15Mbps.
Even though there is no restriction over Wi-Fi for streaming, I would still suggest you get a wired connection. However, if you have wifi 6 router, then you can try it on the wireless connection.
Follow our guide to fix PS5 headset not working.
2. Open A Region 1 Or 2 PSN Account
First of all, to be able to stream PS3 games on your PS5, you need an account that has the availability to buy the PS Plus premium tier.
Because without the PS Plus Premium tier, you won’t be able to run the classic games on your PlayStation 5. And PS Plus premium tier is only available on an account that belongs to region 1 or 2.
If you have a region 3 account, you cannot buy the PS Plus Premium tier because, in most of the region 3 countries, the PS Plus Premium account is dubbed as PS Plus Delux. Which simply means that you will get every feature except cloud streaming.
Countries like China, Hongkong, India, Australia, New Zealand and many more don’t have cloud streaming services in their country. On the other hand, most region 1 & 2 accounts offer streaming services in the USA, Canada, Most European countries & Japan.
So if you don’t have a region 1 or 2 account, make one. Just pick the region with the PlayStation cloud streaming services, and you are good to go.
Here are the countries that offer the PS Plus Premium tier:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Check out the easiest way to fix AirPods not working with PS5.
3. Buy PS Plus Premium Tier
Now that you have made an account that has the PS Plus premium tier, it is time for you to buy the PS Plus Premium tier.
PS Plus Premium tier is $18 monthly. And this is the only way you will be able to stream PS3 games on your PS5. On the Premium tier, accessible in some regions, you can play the very first PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PSP games ever made. Included with the Extra and Premium tiers is the ability to stream games from the service’s library.
After you are done buying the PS Plus Premium tier, follow the steps down below to stream ps3 games on your PS5.
Here are the steps to play PS3 games on PS5:
- Turn on your PS5.
- Enter your PSN account details.
- Access the PS Plus Premium icon tray.
- Navigate to Collections.
- Select Classics Catalog by scrolling down.
- Choose PS3.
- Pick a game from the available options.
- Enter the game page.
- Tap on stream to play the game.
As long as you have a stable internet connection, you will not face any lag or jitters while playing the game. To be honest, with a stable connection, you will feel like the game is running natively, as the response time and the delay are as low as possible.
Is PS5 Fully Backward Compatible?
PlayStation 5 isn’t fully backward compatible. You can play the vast majority of PS4 games natively on your PS5, but there are still some games that are only limited to PS4 only. Also, apart from streaming, there is no way to play PS1, PS2 & PS3 games natively on the PS5.
PlayStation 5 cannot actually play any games on the console other than PS4 games. So, to play the classic games on your PS5, you need to rely on cloud gaming.
Yes, Sony is still under fire for not having the option to play PlayStation 1,2&3 games natively. Because their biggest competitor Xbox is quite popular with its backward compatibility. And Xbox fans are satisfied. At least I am because I can play the Xbox 360 games on my new series console. But Sony did come up with a plan to cover their drawbacks.
To draw the line, I would say if you want to play PS4 games on your PS5, you can easily do it, as most games can be played even via the physical disc. But the earlier generations of games will not run via the disc as the PS5 isn’t compatible with it.
Final Thoughts
Because of PS3’s hardware architecture, it is hard for developers to make the PS3 games run natively on PS5, which is why you cannot download and play the games on your PS5.
But with the PS Plus Premium tier and a stable internet connection, you can directly steam the PS3 games on your PS5. Most popular PS3 game titles are avail for you to stream. As the subscription system launched a few months back, we can all hope the PS3 classic library will get bigger on PS5.
