DF Weekly: PS5 exploit opens the door to new PS4 60fps upgrades
But it only works on older firmware.
Perhaps inevitably, Digital Foundry Direct Weekly returns once again with a new episode and it's fair to say that we have an exceptional line-up of topics and supporter questions this week. We've already posted an article about path-traced lighting coming to Skyrim, but what stood out to me this week was news about the discovery of a new exploit for PlayStation 5 - and it's already delivering 60fps upgrades for PS4 titles that never received any kind of official patch.
Console exploits aren't talked about much because of their piracy-adjacent nature, but the scale and scope of the 'PS5 Hack' is limited by a number of factors, not least that the exploits have already been patched by Sony. To use an exploit on the PS5 means you can't run any new games and you can't go online. It then becomes more of a technical curiosity, and one of those curiosities is that a range of frame-rate unlocking patches that only work on exploited PS4 and PS4 Pro consoles can now be adapted to run on PlayStation 5, with most of the patching work being carried out by an individual known as Illusion.
Their YouTube channel is a treasure trove of data, showing a range of games previously locked to 30fps running unlocked - and it's interesting that it's rare to see too many titles delivering that much of a performance upgrade once the 30fps cap is removed. Red Dead Redemption 2, DriveClub, Batman Arkham Knight... these and many others have been patched, but whether it's CPU or GPU limitations, 60fps is understandably elusive. Illusion even has 720p resolution patches for some PS4 games, which highlight that even if the GPU were stronger, the lacklustre Jaguar CPU cores would still be problematic in sustaining 60 frames per second.
- 00:00:00 Introduction
- 00:00:56 News 01: Jedi: Survivor coming to last-gen consoles
- 00:21:17 News 02: Skyrim modded with path-traced lighting
- 00:29:29 News 03: PS5 exploit allows modded PS4 games to run
- 00:39:58 News 04: Beta PS5 firmware features Dolby Atmos support
- 00:48:36 News 05: Switch 2 to launch in 2H 2024?
- 00:56:57 News 06: The Last Hope removed from Nintendo eShop
- 01:05:28 Supporter Q1: Doesn't targeting 8K with a hypothetical PS5 Pro benefit 4K displays through downsampling?
- 01:10:49 Supporter Q2: What could the PS5 Pro's rumoured AI acceleration enhancements mean?
- 01:18:12 Supporter Q3: Mark Cerny suggested that the PS5 could load in high quality assets as the player moved the camera viewport. Will this actually be implemented?
- 01:21:27 Supporter Q4: Is it time for Microsoft to let developers skip certain features on Series S?
- 01:28:39 Supporter Q5: With Sony aggressively discounting the PS5, are they trying to bury Microsoft's ninth-gen console hopes?
Everything changes now with those patches ported to PlayStation 5. In the DF Direct this week we see some clean footage of Gravity Rush running its 4K PS4 Pro mode effortlessly running on PlayStation 5. Many other 'left behind' unpatched games are slowly seeing their patches ported too: Red Dead Redemption 2, Shadow of the Colossus and even Bloodborne are now seen running at 60fps (the latter being a port of Lance McDonald's existing work).
Of course, Microsoft's FPS Boost program basically did the same thing for Xbox Series consoles, with all implemented games (bar Dark Souls 3) using OS level overrides to get a vast range of titles running at 60fps, or even 120fps. This approach is very different, basically taking the form of game patches that remove the 30fps cap.
We've talked in the past about the roadblocks that stop official 60fps patches in their tracks: patching existing code would mean that game downloads would run unlocked on older consoles. Offical patches need the game to be ported over to more modern SDKs and recompiled with the patched code. It's never going to happen - realistically - but the results on exploited consoles prove it can be done, but the logistics in making this a reality are overwhelming.
We're also likely to see tweaks and patches to earlier PlayStation 5 games now too as the exploit seems to allow for manipulation of memory within PS5 releases, with this tweet showing the debug menus of the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection active. It'll be fascinating to see what happens next.
Elsewhere in the Direct, we discuss the announcement of a last-gen version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, a game designed around the current-gen machines. Will this development come at the expense of a much-needed optimisation push for the existing versions? Does the existence of a perfectly acceptable Hogwarts Legacy last-gen version prove the port should be fine? We'll be following the progress of that port with a lot of interest. Meanwhile, John shares initial impressions on the Dolby Atmos feature found in the latest PS5 beta firmware and the team reacts to the latest Switch 2 gossip (such as it is).
Supporter Q+A proves as entertaining as ever, with more discussion on the mooted PS5 Pro's 8K support and AI features, the extent to which Mark Cerny's claims about the PS5 SSD have come to be, while the old Series S Baldur's Gate 3 split-screen situation once again raises concerns. There's also more reaction to Sony's continued PlayStation 5 price-drops - with questions being asked about whether this is a full-on assault on the console market to 'bury' Xbox Series sales. That's a bit extreme perhaps, but it's certainly the case that we'd like to see more momentum behind Xbox sales - and maybe we'll see that once its impressive line-up array of games starts to ship next month.