The PS5 update has arrived. It will make life difficult for pirates

Checkmate, pirates on PS5

The latest firmware update for PS5, 24/06, was released in September. As it turned out recently, it has very serious consequences that have only now been fully discovered. The update introduces a very important change in the use of the console, specifically regarding the option to restore digital game licenses. It is typically used to fix problems with accessing digitally purchased games. However, it was also used by pirates. Now, after using this function, you can only refresh licenses for games previously installed on the console purchased via PSN – before this change, all games were refreshed, even those not currently installed on PS5.

Holy shit. The newest PS5 Firmware changes the “Restore Licenses” screen so you can now only download licenses for games you currently already have installed. Previously it was just a progress bar and would download every license you own.

This has a HUGE impact on jailbreaking. pic.twitter.com/ctjwT7Ofuf

— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) October 3, 2024

This seriously affects the so-called jailbreaking, i.e. illegally modifying the console to play backups, i.e. pirated versions of games. Previously, you could upload images of games downloaded from PSN, place them on a flash drive and share them with other owners of modified consoles, or even modify and hack your games. From now on, it is impossible to cheat the console with this type of drop, and the game must be previously purchased and downloaded from PSN.

The June 24 update introduced, among others: the “Welcome” tab (unfortunately not available outside the US for now) where you can place various widgets, the Party Share function for sharing links to voice chats and separate profiles for 3D audio.