Console wars never change.
That’s been the case for as long as consoles have been around, but most of the current gaming generation recognizes two main titans in the world of the Console Wars – Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony‘s PlayStation.
There are others, of course – Nintendo throws their hat in every now and then, and there are rumors that at least a dozen people now own a Google Stadia, but most pay the closest attention to the two titans of the wars.
November will finally show the releases of the newest consoles – the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. There’s plenty to be seen, and there’s been plenty to discuss on the tech end of both consoles, but we’ll be focusing on one feature in particular of the PlayStation 5 here.
One of the more touted features of the upcoming Sony console has been the SSD, which will help lower or outright eliminate the load times of plenty of titles. However, it seems that Sony enthusiasts are going to have to wait to unlock that particular use.
At launch, the M.2 SSD slot that gamers can use to install an SSD will be disabled, rendering it useless. Players are also strongly advised not to buy an SSD to put in their new console ahead of time, as there’s no word on what SSDs will be compatible.
10 days. #PS5 pic.twitter.com/7bevdlBjMZ
— Sony (@Sony) November 2, 2020
Much of this information comes from Sony’s Mark Cerny, who did an extensive video back in March of this year during the PlayStation 5 Deep-Dive Reveal. Even all the way back in March, Ceryn was warning players that this support would likely come after launch.
Many players are a bit worried about what this means for their game library, as without extra memory the PlayStation 5 can be filled up quite quickly. While there’s no working M.2 slot at the moment, that doesn’t mean players are out of luck for extra storage.
Players are still able to use external storage through a USB-connected drive, so external hard drives for extra storage are still on the table. While this won’t do you any favors in terms of playing speed, you’ll at least be able to play!
At the moment, it’s unknown how long it will be until we’re able to get access to the M.2 slot to expand it with SSD capabilities, so we can only hope it won’t take too long to grab access to the well-touted feature.
Given that future releases will take up a massive amount of storage, gamers are looking for as much as they can get. Some of the most highly-played titles, like the new installments in the Call of Duty franchise, reach well past 100gb of storage needed, so limiting storage for players hasn’t exactly made the console community too happy.
