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Image: Push Square

With the frankly flabbergasting PS Plus price increases announced overnight, Sony is in need of a win for its subscriptions – and a big one at that! One way it could curry favour with long-time members is by upgrading its PS2 emulator, allowing it to bring back classics from the early noughties alongside the PS1 and PSP titles it’s been adding as a PS Plus Premium perk.

It’s worth noting that the Japanese giant did build a PS2 emulator for the PS4, which resulted in the release of a few dozen retro titles, like Twisted Metal Black and Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. But it was roundly criticised due to its buggy performance and general lack of features, and Sony eventually stopped releasing new games for it.

Popular PlayStation YouTuber Mystic claims to have it on “good authority” a new emulator is on the way to PS5 and PS4, although he stopped short of sharing any specific details. It’s probably worth noting at this point that Mystic, historically, has never billed himself as an online “insider” or “leaker” – although this gives him considerable credibility, as he’s clearly confident in his information here.

Considering how much work Sony has put into its aforementioned PS1 and PSP emulators, which now include support for multiple regions as well various other quality of life features like save states and rewinds, it does appear the Japanese giant is serious about bringing back content from its archives. And it makes sense for the PS2 to be the platform holder’s next target.

Obviously, we hope this turns out to be true, because it’ll result in the archival of more content on the PS Store, which is a positive for preservation. And, as we alluded to at the top of this article, with PS Plus Premium’s price rising extortionately moving forward, it’s going to need all the content it can muster to justify its inflated cost.

[source youtube.com, via playstationlifestyle.net]