Given the sheer size of recent games such as Call of Duty and Cyberpunk 2077, the internal SSD of the PlayStation 5 fills up in no time. According to Bloomberg, you will finally be able to insert another drive into the PS5’s currently empty M.2 expansion slot from summer 2021.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Sony Interactive Entertainment plans to release a new firmware update in the summer that will finally allow PS5 owners to connect secondary solid-state drives for additional storage options.
Store PS4 games externally, not PS5 games
Given the high speed of the PS5’s SSD, it is important for users to thoroughly check compatibility before investing in an M.2 drive. During his GDC 2020 PS5 speech, PS5 Lead System Architect Mark Cerny said M.2 drivers have been tested for such compatibility. It is therefore expected that Sony will soon release the required specifications for the expansion drive before the update takes place. While the PS5 does support an external USB 3 drive, it is only for storing and playing PS4 games. Users cannot currently use it to back up PS5 games, which is a minor setback.
Bloomberg’s report says the update will also unlock “higher cooling fan speeds” to support custom drives and reduce eventual overheating. This patch is important given the increasing storage space consumed by modern games. Previously, Activision reported that PS4 owners with 500 GB will have to “make space” if they want the fully updated versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War and Warzone installed. Call of Duty and its many updates ensure that many gamers hardly have any space left for other major games.
The problem of (too) little storage
Sony knew ahead of time that storage management was going to be a challenge. The new console therefore uses a new compression technology that developers can use to reduce the file size of their games. The Control: Ultimate Edition game, for example, is almost half the size on PS5, compared to the file size on the Xbox Series X.
