PS5: more examples of what’s to come with PS5 backup support

Today it’s Echo Stretch who showcases a Ghost of Tsushima backup running on a hacked PS5, demonstrating what can be achieved with LightningMods’ PS5 backup support.

PS5 Backups are a reality

Last week, hacker LightningMods (a.k.a. LM) dropped a bomb when he shared his progress on running PS5 backups (yes, that’s what you think it is) on hacked PS5s. Although some on the scene have been dismissing it as “it’s always been there and the existing exploit only needed minor modifications to get it to work”, there’s no denying that he’s been the first one to showcase it working in a public way.

As I understand it, PS5 backup support from LightningMods is based on his etaHEN payload, and games are launched via his Homebrew menu ItemzFlow.

LM has been sharing his work with trusted hackers and scene member, for beta testing. He kindly offered to send me a copy but I politely declined, as I’m currently on Firmware 3.xx, and at the moment most of these advanced hacks are only running on Firmwares 4.xx. That’s because they rely on Sleirsgoevy’s “kstuff” library, which has a lot of Firmware-specific offsets (progress on porting this to other firmwares is ongoing, which is why personally I’m not updating. You do you if you’re on 2.xx or 3.xx).

But from where I stand, I assume a release is right around the corner: even with trusted beta testers, as the number of people with a copy in hands starts to increase, risks of a leak (intentional or not) become non negligible. I believe LM knows that and is simply preparing a release for “soon(tm)”.

Today it’s Echo Stretch who shared a video of Ghost of Tsushima’s PS5 version running on a hacked PS5. As always, these videos aren’t proof of anything, but Echo Stretch and LightningMods are trusted members of the PlayStation hacking scene, so in my opinion it’s just a matter of time for owners of hacked PS5s to get their hands on the updated etaHEN.

Got Ghost Of Tsushima PS5 edition running on 4.03.. Coming along great @LightningMods_ pic.twitter.com/0wRwBpRWuK

— Echo Stretch (@StretchEcho) November 13, 2023

If you’re looking for a hackable PS5:

• Hunt for either a “new in box” Launch Edition PS5  or “new in box” CFI-10xx (CFI-10xx are what you’re looking for, CFI-11xx are risky, CFI-12xx are no go),
  or
• Look for a used PS5 console where the seller can explicitly confirm the firmware. Sometimes searching for the exact firmware, e.g. PS5 4.03 can yield results. Always double check!!!