The PlayStation 3 has had an interesting legacy, bombing a bit at the start before a price reduction and focus on games won back fans. It’s now a pretty beloved console and many gamers are still using it to this day, as revealed by the recent Insomniac Games leak.
According to the infamous leak (via Exputer), the PS3 player base still ranges from 2.3 million to 1.9 million. Regardless, it’s clear that this console still has a lot of life in it, despite being on the brink of death now that there are two Sony successors.
Considering how popular the PS5 and PS4 are, it’s surprising to see so many people keep this console alive, albeit barely. This is likely due to the lack of backward compatibility with these newer PlayStation systems, as fans still can’t play certain PS3 classics on these consoles.
While PlayStation Plus Premium does allow users to stream PS3 games, that still requires a stable internet connection. Unfortunately, there’s no proper way to purchase PS3 games through these stores, so the internet is always needed to play something like Infamous 2.
One reason players are still attached to their older consoles is due to the number of exclusive titles only available on this system. From Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition to the original Infamous games and even some PS1 classics, the PS3 can play all of them. Sure, there are remasters of the Uncharted games and God of War 3, but most of the system’s older titles are still stuck in this generation.
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Microsoft fans know this pain pretty well, as the Xbox 360 store will soon be closing down permanently. Although the Xbox One and Xbox Series have backward compatibility with certain games, many other titles will be lost to time once the store closes. Needless to say, fans who have a PS3 and Xbox 360 should cherish these consoles for some time.