Sony is fixing the PS5's biggest drawback slowly but surely

With 667GB of useable SSD space, limited storage is the PS5's Achilles heel. Running out of precious SSD capacity becomes a problem way too quickly. Now Sony is finally doing something about it.

Months after the console's launch, PlayStation 5 owners will soon be able to store next-gen PS5 games on external HDDs and USB sticks. The new feature will be added in tomorrow's major PS5 firmware update, which also adds other significant improvements like being able to check PS Plus data syncs right from a game's quick info menu.

There's just one catch: PS5 games still can't be launched from an HDD. Think of this new feature as an old-school memory card that only stores data. You still have to manually copy/move the game back over to the PS5's SSD in order to play it (luckily this migration doesn't take a long time).

The M.2 SSD expansion bay is still locked, but Sony says it'll share updates soon.

Remember that the PlayStation 5 only supports one external USB 3.0 HDD hooked up at one time, and the drives must be formatted as exFAT. There's also a minimum requirement of 250GB of space (max 8TB) and you'll want to plug the drive into the back of the PS5.

Here's what Sony said on the storage options:

Store PS5 Games on Compatible External USB Drives.* With this feature, you can now transfer your PS5 games to USB extended storage from your console's internal storage. It's a great way to extend the storage capabilities of your PS5 console, and you can seamlessly copy your PS5 games back to the console's internal storage when you're ready to play. It is faster to reinstall PS5 games from USB extended storage than to re-download or copy them from a disc.

Because PS5 games are designed to take advantage of the console's ultra high-speed SSD, PS5 titles can't be played from USB extended storage. PS5 titles also cannot be directly downloaded to USB extended storage. However, games that you transfer or copy back to internal storage will automatically update when applicable. In addition, you can select which game modes you want to install (such as campaign or multiplayer) for select titles that support the option.

*For external USB drive compatibility requirements, visit: https://www.PlayStation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5-extended-storage/ .