A big draw for gaming on PlayStation is collecting trophies, the non-tangible yet incredibly satisfying acknowledgements of one's in-game accomplishments. Many PlayStation players were surprised when their PS4 trophies briefly appeared as PS3 ones, naturally turning heads again about a future backwards compatibility update on PS5.For those who have been playing on PlayStation since the PS3 days, they have been earning trophies for nearly 15 years now. Trophies were not inherently part of the PS3, but were added in an update a few years into the console's lifespan as a rival service to Xbox's achievement and Gamerscore systems. Whether it's on console or through the PlayStation App, players can check their trophy collection in its entirety, with games being denoted with certain flairs—a console-specific tag, and unique game-icon shapes—to help differentiate console generations. The last big change that came to PlayStation's trophy system was an overhaul just prior to the PS5's release.Originally reported by Chris Scullion of VGC, a strange bug recently made users' PS4 trophies appear as PS3 ones. In their article, Scullion references two tweets showing the malfunctioning trophy lists, one being from the mobile app, and the other from the PS5. The latter image is the slightly more useful of the two, demonstrating the missing game icons and names as well as the PS3 label for titles that should simply be PS4 games. This bug was short-lived on both PlayStation consoles and mobile app, with Sony quickly rectifying it, though still giving players enough time to begin hypothesizing about what it could mean.
Recent rumors have indicated that a new service by PlayStation titled Project Spartacus may be Sony's solution to Game Pass. Allegedly, whether it's through native backwards compatibility or through a download and play system like Game Pass, Project Spartacus will open up PlayStation's library of games from the PS1 through the PS3.
Besides the occasional remaster or remake, many games from these generations have been stuck on those PlayStation consoles where conversely, the Xbox Series X has built-in backward compatibility back to the original Xbox. This trophy fiasco was another instance for fans to believe PlayStation was getting this much-desired backwards compatibility.
The timing of this incident is peculiar as not too long ago, PS3 games became visible on the PS5 store, which was another big surge for people hoping Project Spartacus is legitimate. Nonetheless, one has to wonder the origins of the trophy bug itself, and specifically why it would be converting PS4 trophy listings into PS3 ones. Other than the correlation that yes, it seems like Sony is thinking about the PS3, there is not much that outright corresponds this issue to that of the rumors surrounding Project Spartacus. Considering how fast PlayStation caught the bug though, anything is possible.
Source: VGC
