PS4 9.00 Update currently in Beta

Sony have entered the Beta phase for PS4 9.00 Update, with a few selected PS4 owners having received an email and a download link for the firmware update. Although the files for the update can easily be found online, they cannot be installed without a license, that PlayStation have granted to selected PS4 owners. (some codes are floating around if you’re lucky).

PS4 9.00 brings some improvements to the PS5 backward compatibility, as well as some social/parental control quality of life improvements.

This 9.00 update doesn’t seem groundbreaking based on what we’ve heard and seen so far, in particular in comparison to the upcoming changes with additional SSD support coming soon to the PS5, but for a console that’s ten year old, it’s still pretty good to get a major firmware update. With the PS5 still being massively out of stock everywhere, it’s clear PS4 users will keep using their console a bit longer, so it’s nice to get improvements, even if minor.

PS4 9.00 Features

Here’s what we know about PS4 9.00 so far:

Main features updated in this System Software Beta Program version

• You can now view trophies for PS5 games on PS4
• In Messages, if you’re the owner of a group, you can now delete it. Open the options menu, and then select [Delete Group]. If you delete a group, it will be deleted for all members.
• Now when you block someone, you can choose to also leave the group that only you and they are in at the same time. You won’t leave groups that include other players.

Other update features

• When a child requests to use communication features for a game, their parent or guardian will receive a notification on the PS4 and PlayStation App.

PS4 9.00 – What’s the impact for the hacking scene?

So, these seem to be quality of life for social/parental control features, as well as improved backward compatibility with the PS5.

As far as the scene is concerned, nothing has surfaced yet in terms of patched vulnerabilities or exploits with firmware 9.00. With the latest publicly exploitable PS4 firmware being 7.55, it feels as if Sony are one step ahead of hackers at this point.