The PS5 Has Been Jailbroken

The PS5 has been jailbroken and cracked wide open marking the first major hack on the system since its launch back in 2020. While hackers have managed to infiltrate the console up to this point, none of them have been able to access the console's debug options and install custom packages until now.

Notorious hacker Lance McDonald posted a video of his newly jailbroken PS5 console on Twitter showing off some of the now-enabled settings. Most notably is the new ability to install custom packages. Other features include enabling developer options and even hidden dev cowtools while running games.

Of course, the most exciting part of the PS5 jailbreak comes at the end of the video where the hacker installs the infamous* Silent Hills P.T Demo* which was officially delisted from the PlayStation Store a few years ago. The hacker doesn't show the game launching but the fact that it can be installed is a huge step towards installing and playing games which are not officially licensed for the PS5.

This PS5 jailbreak marks quite a big step towards enabling homebrew on the console too. Both the PS3 and PS4 are currently jailbroken and can be used to install custom themes, games, emulators and even unofficial game patches including the Bloodborne 60FPS patch. The patch is something you can't install on your PS4 unless you have it jailbroken and hacked.

Sadly, the hacker didn't share any specific details on how the jailbreak took place. We don't know if it was a software or hardware-related loophole at this stage. He likely kept his process a secret to avoid Sony patching and fixing it almost instantly.

It is still too early to tell what will come from this exploit. However, apart from the piracy issues surrounding jailbroken PS5 consoles, the homebrew community might find ways to create unique apps and experiences on the console. In fact, this exploit might result in a way for users to emulate PS3 games on the console. Something Sony has failed to work on.