PlayStation 4 surprise system update slammed by angry fans

Even after more than 10 years on the market, Sony is still doing its best to combat some of the PS4's most notorious exploits; much to the chagrin of those who are trying to capitalise on them.

The 11.52 update, which went live last week on the 17th of July, was relatively sparse as far as specific details were concerned.

There were only two patch notes for the update, with the two sole changes listed as improvements to "messages and usability on some screens" and "some security fixes to the system software".

That last, mostly undefined change is the part that's upsetting a very specific crowd of PS4 fans: modders.

Although those looking to jailbreak their PS4s would have to be on system version 11.00 or earlier to take advantage of previously discovered vulnerabilities anyway, those in the jailbreaking scene are mostly just upset that Sony is still bothering to patch the console at all.

One user on the PSXHAX forum was particularly annoyed, commenting that "Sony at it again with these useless updates. Let's just stop already and let the console be."

"We need to be careful not to update accidentally," stated another, "because it could take years before it becomes possible."

Ultimately it's unsurprising that Sony is still rolling out updates to tackle exploits on the PS4, regardless of its age, considering the console is still clearly making money for them given that several titles are still releasing simultaneously on both the PS4 and PS5.

It's even less surprising when you take into account that Sony rolled out an update for the PS3 that focused on combating similar vulnerabilities less than six months ago, for a system that is almost 20 years old at this point.

That being said, it still does seem a little pointless. Anyone even slightly interested in jailbreaking their consoles will know that updating your system software is a sure fire way to nullify some exploits entirely, and it feels especially pointless in the case of the PlayStation 3 given the recent leaps in PS3 emulation efforts.

It also seems like the PS4 isn't far behind in this respect either, if the latest work on Bloodborne is anything to go by.