Hackers targeted PlayStation 4's system to allow PlayStation 2 titles to the latest Sony gaming console. A number of pirated video games released for the previous console can be accessed through PS4's 4.05 system software.
According to reports, the exploit was discovered earlier in January with a low-level system brought to the PS4. This indicates that PS2 video games remastered for the PS4 are not the only PS2 titles available for playing on the console. Most PlayStation 4 consoles are now updated to the latest 5.05 system software, making the exploit a much smaller deal than it was initially perceived. However, hackers decided to break more extensive barriers, allowing the reverse engineering of PS2 games for the PS4, tools to inject ISO files on hacked machines, Linux support, access to the PS4 system through File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and more.
Eurogamer commented that the future of the hack is still unknown and that the "kernel exploits initially located in firm 4.55 still persist to this day -- they haven't been publicly revealed, but potentially open the door to further piracy problems later on down the road." Sony nor the PlayStation team is yet to address the hacking issue giving way to backward compatibility.
The PS4 is not the only console facing hacking dilemmas at the moment. Nintendo's hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch, is also a target of hackers. There are reports saying hackers are close to unlocking the Switch's restricted system for the sake of homebrew coding and video game piracy. There are also articles suggesting the Switch had already been hacked.
The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch with the Xbox One are still the top video game consoles in the world with no signs of successors on the horizon. There are predictions, however, that new consoles like the PS5 might be coming out in 2020. But there are still upcoming video game releases for the latest consoles slated until 2019.
