PS3 Avatars Disappearing from PS5 — What’s Actually Going On?

If you’ve recently logged into your PS5 and noticed that some of your old premium avatars — especially the ones you bought back on PS3 are missing, you’re not alone. This is a real issue, and there are already dozens of reports on Reddit and even gaming news sites covering it. I looked into it myself, contacted support, and here’s everything I’ve found.

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The Problem

Your premium PSN avatars that were purchased or redeemed during the PS3 era are no longer showing up on:

• PS5 consoles
• The PlayStation App
• The PSN web profile page

They’ve basically vanished from any modern interface, even though they’re still tied to your account.

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What Support Said

I contacted PlayStation Support directly and here’s the exact quote I received:

“One thing that I have seen in common for those avatars is that they are listed as local DRM for PS3. So it is possible that with one of the latest updates on the PS5, they stopped being available for use.”

What does that mean?
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. In this case, it means those avatars are locally licensed are tied to the PS3’s method of handling ownership and usage rights. When you download them on PS3, that system recognizes and activates them using its own DRM.

But the PS5 doesn’t use that same system. So if Sony didn’t migrate those avatars properly to cloud licensing, then newer consoles (like PS4/PS5) just won’t see them as valid anymore.

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Support Escalation and Internal Access Limits

After trying the usual support steps with no luck, I reached out to PlayStation Support again. This time they said they had to escalate my case to a higher department.

The reason is that regular agents don’t have full permissions to access everything. The higher department is likely made up of Sony employees with admin-level access who can see and manage account details much deeper.

Usually when they escalate this kind of issue, you get an email directly from someone in that department. Support told me I should expect an email within five business days or less. I’ll update this post as soon as I hear anything back.

They gave me a bunch of troubleshooting steps, but none of those worked since this needs someone with internal access to fix it.

If you want to know more about how PlayStation outsources most support but keeps some stuff in-house, check out my other post here: PlayStation support and internal teams breakdown

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What Reddit Users Are Saying

This issue was first spotted by users on r/PS3, r/playstation, and on the PSNProfiles forum. One Reddit post summarizes what a lot of people noticed:

• Some users still see their avatars on the PS App.
• Others only see them on the PS3 after re-downloading.
• And for many, they’ve completely vanished from all modern platforms.

Here’s what one user did:

“I went to the PS3’s PSN → redownloaded them. Now they show in the Premium Avatar section of the PS3, but ONLY on the PS3.”

Another user said:

“I just checked the PS app and see all mine so it must have just been a glitch.”

So right now, it seems like it depends on your account status, when you got the avatar, and whether your license is still fresh.

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What the Media Reported

PlayStation Lifestyle confirmed that:

• This is affecting many players, not just a few accounts.
• Sony has not officially commented, but this seems to be a backend or sync bug, not an intentional removal.
• Users with PS3 consoles can still see and use the avatars there.

So the avatars aren’t “deleted.” They’re just not visible where you’d expect them.

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Can You Get Them Back?

Yes and no. Here’s what you can try:

1. If you still have a PS3: Go to your “Download List” or “Account Management” → Download your missing avatars again.
2. Check the PS App: Some users say the avatars still appear there and can be set as profile avatars (for now).
3. Contact Support: They may be able to escalate it if enough people report it as a problem.

But there’s no guaranteed fix unless Sony pushes an update to fix DRM recognition across all systems.

There’s a dedicated thread inside my main Discord server where I post blog updates and other topics. If you’re dealing with the PS3 avatar issue, you can head there and share what you’ve seen or tried. I’m keeping track of useful findings and will credit any solid info directly in this post. Join here: StarStation - Discord

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Why Does this Matter?

If content that you legally purchased becomes unusable just because of how it’s licensed, that raises questions about long-term access to any digital purchase on PlayStation.

This could also happen with:

• Old themes
• PS3/PSP games
• Add-ons that used local DRM

So keep track of what you’ve bought, especially if it was from the PS3 generation.

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Final Thoughts

Sony needs to fix this. Your avatars shouldn’t just vanish. Until then, if you’ve got a PS3, redownload what you can. And report the issue through official support to make it harder for them to ignore.

If there are updates or patches that restore the missing avatars, I’ll update this post.