It’s my understanding that backwards-compatible PS3s actually had PS2 hardware in them.

We can play PS2 and PS1 games if they are downloaded from the store, so emulation isn’t an issue. I think Sony looked at the data and saw they would make more money removing backwards compatibility, so that’s what they did.

Thankfully the PS3 was my last console before standards got even lower and they started charging an additional fee to use my internet.