The gaming community is split into factions over a single datamined icon. In early November 2025, dataminer Amethxst discovered new symbols on the PlayStation Store backend, including one labeled “Cross-Buy” paired with “PS5/PC.” On the surface, this seems straightforward – Sony is planning to let you buy games once and play them on both platforms. But as more information emerged, the picture became murkier, and now the gaming community is locked in a debate about what Sony is actually planning.
The Icon That Started Everything
On November 4, 2025, Amethxst posted screenshots showing several new icons in the PlayStation Store backend. One icon clearly showed “Cross-Buy,” and another displayed “PS5/PC.” The discovery immediately went viral because it seemed to confirm a feature fans have been requesting for years: the ability to buy a game once for PS5 and automatically get access to the PC version without paying twice.
Dealabs, the trusted source for PlayStation leaks, quickly investigated and verified the icons were legitimate. More importantly, they discovered these icons were added as recently as June 2025 – this wasn’t legacy code from the PS Vita era, but something Sony is actively building right now. Amethxst even confirmed the symbols used official Sony fonts with proper unicode codes (EF5B to EF61), proving they weren’t fan-made mockups.
That verification should have settled things. Instead, it opened Pandora’s box of questions and theories that still haven’t been resolved.
Theory 1: The PC Play Anywhere Competitor
The most obvious interpretation is that Sony is finally going to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anywhere feature. Since 2015, Xbox Play Anywhere has let players purchase supported games once and play them on both Xbox and PC. It’s been tremendously successful, and the gaming community has consistently pointed to it as a feature PlayStation desperately needs.
Sony already brings many PlayStation exclusives to PC – Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man, God of War Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and others. The missing piece has been unified purchasing. Right now, if you want to play Ghost of Tsushima on PS5 and PC, you buy it twice. A cross-buy system would eliminate that friction and make the PlayStation ecosystem more attractive to gamers who use both platforms.
From a consumer perspective, this would be incredible. From a business perspective, it’s complicated. Sony makes money on every purchase. Cross-buy means losing potential second sales from players who already own a game on one platform. But it could attract more players to the ecosystem overall if they know their purchase investment follows them across platforms.
Supporters of this theory point to the timing. Sony has been steadily moving first-party games to PC. They’ve also been talking about “expanding the PlayStation ecosystem” beyond just the console. Cross-buy with PC would be the logical next step.
Theory 2: It’s Actually for the PS6 Handheld
This theory gained significant traction after Vice reported that the cross-buy feature might not be for PC at all. Instead, it could be for Sony’s rumored PS6 handheld console supposedly launching in 2027. Multiple sources have reported that Sony is developing a portable PlayStation device to compete with the Nintendo Switch 2.
If that’s true, the “PS5/PC” icon might actually mean “PS5/Handheld” or the naming convention could just be placeholder text. A handheld would absolutely need cross-buy with the home console. You’d want to buy a game on your portable PS6 handheld and have it automatically available on your PS5 at home. That would be standard feature parity with Switch.
Supporting this theory is the fact that these icons appeared in June 2025, right around when Microsoft and Sony would be starting serious development on next-gen hardware planning. The PS6 won’t launch until 2027 at the earliest, so backend code being written in mid-2025 for a 2027 device makes timeline sense.
Against this theory: if the handheld was called “PS6” internally, why would the icon say “PS5/PC”? That’s the main hole in this theory. The icon explicitly mentions PC, which wouldn’t make sense for handheld-to-console cross-buy.
Theory 3: It Could Be Both
Some observers suggest Sony might be planning a unified cross-buy system that works across multiple platforms. Buy a game and play it on PS5, PC, and eventually the handheld. Microsoft is moving toward this with Play Anywhere, which technically works across Xbox, PC, and cloud streaming.
Sony could be building something similar – a “Play Anywhere” competitor that gives you access on PS5, PC, and eventually a portable device. The infrastructure for one cross-buy system that works across three platforms would be more efficient than building separate systems for PC-to-console and handheld-to-console.
The problem with this theory is that it requires Sony to commit to releasing a handheld, which they haven’t announced, and to overhaul their entire PC publishing strategy, which would be a massive undertaking.
The Crucial Unknowns
Even with the icon verification, massive questions remain unanswered. First-party games only, or third-party too? If it’s third-party, would publishers opt in, or would every game support it? Would it apply to existing games on both platforms, or only new releases going forward? Would access be free when a PC version launches, or would you still need to purchase it separately?
These aren’t trivial questions. They determine whether cross-buy is a consumer-friendly feature or just window dressing. A system where you buy a game on PS5 but have to pay extra for the PC version isn’t really cross-buy – that’s just normal purchasing.
The other huge unknown is timing. These icons have been in development since at least June 2025, but we’re now in November and Sony still hasn’t announced anything official. That’s either because the feature isn’t ready, or because Sony is waiting for a major event to reveal it. The Game Awards in December could be perfect, or they might save the announcement for next year.
Why This Matters Beyond Just Gamers
This debate has implications for the broader gaming industry. If Sony successfully implements PC cross-buy, it sets a new standard that other publishers would be expected to match. Nintendo already works around this with the Switch having native ports of games. Microsoft leads with Play Anywhere. Sony following suit would mean cross-platform purchasing becomes the baseline expectation rather than a novelty.
For PC gamers specifically, cross-buy could finally make them feel like part of the PlayStation ecosystem rather than second-class citizens getting hand-me-down versions of console exclusives. It would legitimize PC as a platform Sony cares about, not just a place to make extra money off console-exclusive games after they stop selling on PS5.
For console gamers, cross-buy might mean paying more overall in some cases if publishers use it as an excuse to raise prices (“buy once, play everywhere” could become pricing justification). Or it could mean cheaper games if competitive pressure forces prices down. The market impact is genuinely unpredictable.
FAQs
What exactly was discovered?
Dataminer Amethxst found new icons in the PlayStation Store backend, including ones labeled “Cross-Buy” and “PS5/PC.” These icons were verified as legitimate by Dealabs and appear to have been added in June 2025, suggesting Sony is actively developing this feature.
Is this confirmed to be PS5/PC cross-buy?
No, it’s not officially confirmed. The icons suggest some kind of cross-buy feature exists, but what exactly it’s for remains speculation. Theories range from PS5/PC purchasing to a rumored PS6 handheld system, or possibly both.
Has Sony officially commented?
No. Sony has not made any official statement about the cross-buy icons or what they mean. The discovery and verification come entirely from datamining and community investigation.
How would PS5/PC cross-buy actually work?
The theory is you could buy a game on PS5 and automatically have access to the PC version through the PlayStation Store or a PlayStation PC launcher, similar to Xbox Play Anywhere. But the exact mechanics haven’t been revealed.
Would this apply to all games?
Unknown. It could be exclusive to first-party Sony games, or it could expand to third-party publishers who opt in. There’s no information on how widely it would be implemented.
What about games already released on both platforms?
Unknown. Cross-buy might apply only to new releases, or Sony could retroactively add support for existing games. This distinction would significantly impact its value.
Could this be for a PlayStation handheld instead?
Possibly. The rumored PS6 handheld would absolutely need cross-buy with PS5. Some observers believe that’s what this icon is actually for, despite it being labeled “PS5/PC.”
When might Sony announce this?
No confirmed timeline, but major events like The Game Awards in December 2025 or next year’s PlayStation showcase events would be logical venues for an announcement.
Is this better than Xbox Play Anywhere?
That depends on implementation details we don’t know yet. In theory, a PS5/PC cross-buy system could match or exceed Play Anywhere, but Sony would need to make it actually consumer-friendly to compete.
Why did Sony add these icons in June if they’re not announcing it until later?
Backend development always precedes public announcements. It typically takes months to fully build and test a feature before revealing it. June development for November discovery makes sense for a feature that might launch by end of year or early 2026.
Conclusion
The datamined cross-buy icon proves Sony is working on something, but the gaming community remains genuinely uncertain about what that something actually is. Is it PS5/PC cross-buy to compete with Xbox Play Anywhere? Is it infrastructure for a PS6 handheld? Could it be both? Until Sony makes an official announcement, every theory has equal merit and equal doubt. What’s clear is that wherever this feature goes, it represents Sony finally acknowledging that games should follow players across platforms rather than forcing multiple purchases. That’s progress, even if the exact direction remains a mystery waiting to be solved.