Anyone purchasing a Sony PlayStation 5 currently is limited to the 825GB of internal storage that the console is shipped with, and only 667GB of that is free to use. This creates a bottleneck that prevents gamers from loading more than a few marquee games on their console at once. According to Bloomberg’s report, Sony is preparing to open up its PS5 for internal storage upgrades this summer, therefore lifting the bottleneck.
“Adding support for additional drives will be enabled with a firmware update that also unlocks higher cooling-fan speeds to ensure the console doesn’t overheat, the people said, asking not to be named because the plans are not yet public.” The PS5 comes with a custom solid-state drive with around 667GB available for storing games, apps, and media — at a time when most popular AAA games are about 40-50GB in size, with games like Call of Duty crossing the 100GB barrier. The PS5 has an M.2 expansion slot, but the expansion option was locked when the console launched.
Sony’s latest console has a customized architecture that accelerates loading and processing times. Still, the typical way that gamers add storage is through an external hard drive, and the PS5 makes it impractical to plug in one. Such a drive can only be used for older PS4 games; however, after the planned firmware upgrade, users will only need to remove the plastic cover off the PS5 and attach a new storage unit to create more space.
“As previously announced, we are working to enable M.2 SSD storage expansion for PlayStation 5. The timing has not been announced, and details will be shared later,” a Sony spokesman said.
The PS5 has been in high demand since its launch in November, so much so that due to various supply chain and logistics failures, the Japanese electronics giant is being prevented from delivering sufficient units. A similar problem of constrained supply is being faced by rival Microsoft Corp., which warned its latest Xbox console generation is unlikely to see relief before June at the earliest.
