Unlocked PS5s took a leap that PlayStation didn’t want to see, because according to Insider Gaming an application called Overdrive appeared that apparently functions as a pirate PlayStation Store, with an interface very similar to the official store, where users can search for and download games and DLC for free. In the cards you can see the size of each file and its rating, but no price, and in the video circulating online there are recent titles such as Battlefield 6, 007 First Light, Forza Horizon 5 and Black Myth Wukong, which in the official store cost up to 70 dollars.
The catalog would have more than 1,600 games, according to International Cyber Digest, which notes that the app was published on GitHub on October 9 and that the files are downloaded from external servers like MediaFire. The most striking aspect is the speed, because all of this happened barely ten days after the release of Relapse, the jailbreak that opened almost all PS5s on the market. Insider Gaming clarifies that they could not verify for themselves that the store works as shown in the video, so for now it should be taken with caution.
Why Relapse Multiplied Unlocked PS5s
Relapse works on almost any PS5 with a firmware earlier than version 14.00, including many PS5 Pro models sold in stores today, and according to TechSpot it enables unlocking a console in under a minute. In a matter of weeks, the community progressed from homebrew apps, such as those that allow running PS2 games from the original disc, to a parallel store with newly released games, something that had not been seen in this generation.
The Risks of Using a Pirate Store
Downloading games from unknown servers exposes the console and your accounts to malware, because no one checks what those files contain, and furthermore unlocked PS5s lose access to PlayStation’s servers. On top of that, PlayStation historically responds to this kind of case with firmware updates that close the vulnerabilities and with bans of accounts and consoles, so the most likely outcome is that the next system update will attempt to curb this store.
For players who buy their games, the risk is indirect, because every security breach compels PlayStation to harden its protections, and that typically results in more frequent updates and less freedom for those who use the console legally.