RUMOR: Upcoming Firmware Brings Cross-Buy to the PS3

Cross-Buy, it’s Sony’s newest method of benefiting gamers. By purchasing the PS3 copy of a Cross-Buy enabled title – current titles include PlayStation All-Stars, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, and Sly Cooper: Thievs in Time- you’ll also receive a Vita copy of the game at no extra cost, effectively saving you $40 in most cases. But how exactly does this work? Do you receive a voucher in the packaging, or is this somehow tied to your account? Well it seems like Insomniac Games’ James Stevenson has given us our first details about this mysterious program.

While addressing the recently announced retail version of Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, Stevenson let it slip that “a new OS-level system that handles cross-buy games if you buy the PS3 disc” would handle the retail copy of the game. Purchasing a cross-buy game digitally will most likely add the Vita version into your cart at no extra cost.

But what’s this new “OS-level system”? As far as we know, nothing like that exists on the PS3 yet. This has led us to the conclusion that between now and November 20th, PlayStation All-Stars release, a currently unannounced firmware will become available for the PS3 and possibly Vita that will add this new feature in, allowing users to insert their disc and redeem their free Vita copy of the Cross-Buy enabled game. For now, this is just a rumor, so like always, please take this with a grain of salt.