Sony has announced that it is currently working on ways to allow PlayStation 5 owners to save PS5 games on a USB drive. Does this further muddy the waters around the future internal SSD expansion, though?
Can I Store PS5 Games on an External USB Drive?
In a word, no. Or at least not yet. Sony has already confirmed that the internal SSD expansion feature won’t be available at launch. And now, as revealed by an FAQ on the PlayStation Blog, Sony has added more fuel to the towering bonfire of potential PS5 disappointments by stating that it is not possible to store games on a USB drive.
Sony adds that it is looking at ways to allow PlayStation 5 owners to use an external USB drive to store entire game files. The games won’t be playable from the drive, but could potentially be stored on an external SSD, for example.
The operative words here though are “looking at”. Sony hasn’t confirmed that you will be able to store games on USB drives in the future. Only that it is working on potential solutions.
Does the PS5 Have Enough Internal Memory?
While this news may not come as a surprise to some, others may be left feeling disappointed.
If you plan to play notoriously storage-slurping games like Call of Duty, for example, to their full extent (i.e. with all features installed), then you might find that you really could do with that extra storage. Especially if you plan to play several titles at the same time.
Using the example above, users might find they have to delete a game if a massive software update comes in which pushes the storage past capacity. Where are gamers left then? It makes sense that the storage of games on an external drive should be a possibility.
Questions have already been raised regarding whether the PS5 internal memory capacity is actually enough, particularly in relation to SSD-gate. So, it would seem that consumers have this expectation when it comes to their console.
Does the PS5 Work With Any USB Drives?
Actually, yes. In the same PlayStation 5 FAQ, Sony has confirmed that USB drives containing PS4 games will work with the PS5.
This means you can store and play your PS4 game files on any USB storage device, plug it into your PS5, and play any of your games. Players with large PS4 libraries will really benefit from this feature. Meaning all is not lost.
For now, PlayStation 5 owners will have to settle with saving games on the ultra-high-speed internal SSD.
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