The biggest problem with the PlayStation 4 is getting fixed

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February 3, 2017 7:43 PM

Sony's PlayStation 4 is a ridiculously popular game console, with over 50 million sold since launch in 2013. Now, nearly four years later, there are dozens of fantastic games on Sony's console.

"Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" is just one of many gorgeous, excellent games on the PlayStation 4.

But with that wealth of games comes a major problem: storage space.

The standard-issue PlayStation 4 comes with a measly 500 GB of storage space. Sounds like a lot, right? As most PS4 owners will tell you, it fills up mighty quickly. With many major games these days coming in at 30 to 80 GB, you can easily fill that storage space with a dozen or so games.

A frustrating juggling scenario emerges from this situation: Many folks find themselves deleting older games as a means of playing new ones. That's not such a big deal if you're playing mostly single-player, narrative-driven games that you're unlikely to revisit. But with more and more games these days — stuff like "Overwatch," for instance — people are sticking around for months at a time.

So what's the solution?

An external hard drive is your most logical choice. Unfortunately, the current PlayStation 4 doesn't allow for external hard drives. You can unscrew a panel on the side of your PS4, remove the internal hard drive, and replace it with a new one. It's a whole thing.

Or, even better, after the upcoming PlayStation 4 system update (4.50), you can just plug in an external hard drive and immediately expand your storage dramatically. How dramatically? Up to 8 TB. That's sixteen times as much storage space, in case you're wondering.

Pretty great!

The one caveat is that the external hard drive has to be of the USB 3.0 variety — any hard drive you buy in 2017 should be compliant with this, but do yourself a favor and check the box or ask a sales associate if you're unsure.

A couple of other neat features in the PS4 system update are worth knowing about:

It's unclear exactly when the 4.50 system update will arrive for all PS4 owners, but anyone in the beta program gets access starting Friday. That said, we expect it will roll out to everyone in the next few weeks. If you want to read all the details from Sony, check out the blog post.

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