New PS5 External Disc Drive Requires Internet Connection for Pairing

PlayStation 5 Digital with external disc drive.
(Image credit: Sony)

Sony is rolling out redesigned, smaller PlayStation 5 models in November, including a new optional Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc Drive that can pair to a Digital Edition PS5 in order to let digital gamers move to discs later. But it appears that those who decide to add a Blu-ray drive later on will require an internet connection to pair the console and the drive together.

Call of Duty-focused site Charlie Intel posted images on X (formerly known as Twitter) of a Call of Duty Modern Warfare III bundle featuring the slim PS5, and readers noticed that the fine print on the box reads "Internet connection required to pair Disc Drive and PS5 console upon setup."

It's a fair bit of irony for a medium that gamers like because physical copies mean you can play games even if servers are shut down later on.

Some X users likened the move to putting DRM on the optional disc drive, with some worrying about issues when, many years down the line, Sony may shut down servers supporting the PlayStation 5 and the disc drive, preventing the preservation and play of these games.

Community Notes on X point to a Wired story from December 2020 that may, in part, answer why this is occurring. That article points out that both Sony and Microsoft "lock down the software they use to pair their disc readers with their consoles' motherboards." This may be an attempt to ensure compliance with Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is what makes it illegal to "circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work." In that case, pairing the disc drive and the motherboards ensures that you're using a legitimate first-party accessory, and not one that can enable piracy.

Of course, pirates have rarely been stopped by firmware pairing, though third-party repairs sure can suffer. It's likely that you'll only need to connect to the internet one time, on first use, to pair the drive. It's unclear if Sony will ever remove the requirement, perhaps when the next generation of consoles comes out.

Sony did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. If we hear back, we'll update the story.

The new PlayStation 5, which some have taken to calling the PS5 Slim, is set to launch in November alongside the existing design. Once the original design is out of stock, the new one will be the default.

Sony is bumping the storage on the PS5 from an 825GB SSD to 1TB. The PS5 with a disc drive will run for $499.99, while the Digital Edition will be $449.99 (a $50 increase from the existing model). Those who want to add a disc drive to the Digital Edition later can pay $79.99 for the accessory.

Andrew E. Freedman

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and Mastodon @FreedmanAE.mastodon.social.

  • JarredWaltonGPU
    I wonder if the new 1TB SSD will be faster than the current SSD? Because I've been doing testing, and I'm not particularly impressed by the integrated SSD. Seems to have consistent write speeds, but only of about 600 MB/s. Even inexpensive 2TB M.2 Gen4 SSDs will beat it (unless they're QLC).
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    They sure do like to beat the users with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

    They also do rathe like online activation and I wonder if you can only pair the drive with one PS5, which would be why the activation has to be online.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    JarredWaltonGPU said:
    I wonder if the new 1TB SSD will be faster than the current SSD? Because I've been doing testing, and I'm not particularly impressed by the integrated SSD. Seems to have consistent write speeds, but only of about 600 MB/s. Even inexpensive 2TB M.2 Gen4 SSDs will beat it (unless they're QLC).
    Did you do the testing outside of the PS5?
    Is it known if the PS5 even has more bandwidth than that?! (For that lane)
    The only time the PS5 would need sustained write would be during installation of games so.
    Can the bluray even read at 600Mb/sec?
    Does the internet download that fast anywhere in the world?!
    If it has to install from the same disk it would need a lot of the bandwidth for reading as well.
    Reply
  • WrongRookie
    If it's to prevent third party drives to be inserted...they can just use a chip that detects the drive and just not accept it.

    Seems like a waste to complicate it even further.
    Reply
  • Order 66
    I think that this is pretty much pointless, why do you need internet to pair a disk drive since most disks already have DRM on them to prevent piracy anyway.
    Reply
  • HaninTH
    Order 66 said:
    I think that this is pretty much pointless, why do you need internet to pair a disk drive since most disks already have DRM on them to prevent piracy anyway.

    Does no one remember the DVD console player updates required for some newer discs with the latest DRM to play after the initial DVD DRM was cracked? It didn't help slow down piracy at all, but it doesn't mean they won't keep trying.

    I would assume the requirement for the internet connection would also be to verify that the latest supported Video disc DRM is enabled. Wouldn't hurt to also check that the Game disc DRM is updated as well and as others have mentioned, ensure that only a 1st party drive is installed.

    Par for the course for IP defenders.
    Reply
  • AloofBrit
    TerryLaze said:
    Did you do the testing outside of the PS5?
    Is it known if the PS5 even has more bandwidth than that?! (For that lane)
    The only time the PS5 would need sustained write would be during installation of games so.
    Can the bluray even read at 600Mb/sec?
    Does the internet download that fast anywhere in the world?!
    If it has to install from the same disk it would need a lot of the bandwidth for reading as well.
    I don't think removing it is possible - what's referred to as the 'internal SSD' is made up of chips attached to the main board (see Step 7 here: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+5+Teardown/138280)

    It does let you transfer to and from the internal to the M.2 slot, so I'm guessing this is how Jarred got the 600MB rate
    Reply
  • atomicWAR
    SMH... Sony, Microsoft and likely Nintendo all want to take away physical games like PC has done (mostly). I love PC but HATE I can't get physical copies of most of my new games. This kind of anti-consumer behavior should not be allowed.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    They want to have a database to add the serial number, or whatever code/data, from the drive to your sony/ps account so that that drive only works with your console and never pairs up with a different console ever.
    You need internet for that.
    If they did that with the firmware of the drive then people would be able to just flash the firmware like they do with the xbox 360 drives, I think the only reason they don't do that with ps3 drives is because the whole console got cracked.
    Now they would need to hack sony, which isn't even that impossible with how many big companies got hacked in the last few years.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    atomicWAR said:
    SMH... Sony, Microsoft and likely Nintendo all want to take away physical games like PC has done (mostly). I love PC but HATE I can't get physical copies of most of my new games. This kind of anti-consumer behavior should not be allowed.
    It's not anti-consumer, as much as I also like physical media but you can't expect companies to keep putting out their albums on 8 track and movies on beta just because you like it. If a medium is superseded by a new one the companies move along to save money and be able to offer their product at a good price.
    And now is the transition time where even bluray starts to not be that much more convenient than downloading the same amount of data, at least for big parts of the world where internet is fast and relatively cheap.
    Reply