Sources say that Sony Corp,in an attempt to sort out a bottleneck that prevents gamers from having more than a few games on their console at one time, is preparing to open up its PlayStation 5 for internal storage upgrades this summer.
Sony intends to enable support for additional drives with a firmware update that also unlocks higher cooling-fan speeds to ensure the console doesn’t overheat.
The PlayStation 5 comes with a custom solid-state drive with around 667GB available for storing games, apps and media — at a time when the latest Call of Duty game needs 133GB of installation space and most major titles take up at least 40GB each.
Sony’s latest console has a customized architecture that accelerates loading and processing times, but makes it impractical to plug in an external hard drive, the typical way gamers add storage.
Such a drive can only be used for older PS4 games. After the planned firmware upgrade, players need only take a plastic cover off the PS5 and attach a new storage unit to address the current limitations.
The PlayStation 5 has been in high demand since its launch in November, with various supply chain and logistics issues preventing the Japanese electronics giant from delivering sufficient units.
Constrained supply has also been a problem for rival Microsoft Corp., which warned its latest Xbox console generation is unlikely to see relief before June at the earliest.
