PlayStation 3 receives system update in year of our lord 2025

Sony just dropped a system update for the PlayStation 3, almost 20 years after the console first released.

As of last night, “system software update 4.92” is now live for all PlayStation 3 consoles. I’m sure you have lots of questions, because frankly so do I.

Did you catch our first-look at gameplay for Pokémon Legends Z-A?

Back in 2021, Sony announced that the majority of the PS3’s online capabilities, including the PlayStation Store itself, were set to shut down.

Since then, following a lot of public outcry, Sony walked back this decision - or at the very least, delayed it.

They’re clearly still planning on sunsetting the console at some point in the not-so-distant future, so… why exactly did they just bother launching a system software update for it out of the blue?

Well, over on Bluesky, people have two theories - and I think both are probably correct.

“Likely fixing an exploit that enables whatever jailbreak solution there is out there currently,” commented user Tyson.

“Something tells me the important part is "Please note, to play Blu-ray discs, your PS3 system needs a renewed Blu-ray player encryption key. Please update your PS3 system software to the latest version to renew the Blu-ray player encryption key." Good on them for doing it, dumb that they have to,” replied user bee 'hyphen' moh.

The jailbreaking bit is highly likely I reckon. Sure, Sony might be planning on shutting the PS3’s online services down, but that doesn’t mean they want you to get stuff without paying in the meantime.

The Blu-ray part is definitely correct however. Now this might be news to some of you but, Blu-ray players actually need updating, roughly every 12 to 18 months… otherwise they won’t read your Blu-ray movie discs.

From what I understand, this will never affect video game discs. So rest assured that, once Sony finally do stop updating the PS3, your discs will always work.

Man, I miss DVDs.