Last week the second major PS5 system update rolled out globally. The headline features were the ability to add more internal storage, much-needed UI tweaks, and improvements to the trophy system, but it turns out Sony may have been hiding a significant addition.
After rigorous testing Digital Foundry has discovered that the new PS5 system update actually improves performance in some games. After installing the update the console-testing experts found that games including Devil May Cry 5 and Control ran about 2-3% faster on the new console firmware.
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Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter explained, “In very select scenarios, it does seem as though PlayStation 5s are running faster than they were before with this new firmware.”
This boost in performance leads to a minor framerate increase of around 2 fps in some games. Granted, a framerate increase of that size is so small that the average player probably won’t detect the difference, but it’s still very interesting that Sony has managed to boost the PS5’s performance levels with just a system update.
While this specific performance boost is on the small side, it could indicate that future system updates will also be able to achieve further performance boosts.
If Sony is able to refine how the PS5 runs games with just system updates, it could result in the console manufacturer being less inclined to release a PS5 Pro anytime soon. Although, there will be limits on what can be achieved just by updating the existing console with new firmware.
It seems likely that in the future Sony will still want to release a suped-up version of the PS5 with upgraded internals. There are already rumors doing the rounds suggesting that a PS5 capable of running games in 8K is already in the pipeline for 2023 — it’s extremely unlikely that level of a performance boost could be patched into the existing model of PS5.
Overall, the latest system update has really taken the PS5 up a level. The playing experience on the console is now better than ever. Plus, with excellent exclusives like Deathloop and Kena: Bridge of Spirits recently launched, now is the perfect time to be hunting down a PS5 restock.
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