PS5 CMOS battery fix appears to have been quietly released

Sony appears to have quietly fixed a PS5 issue that would eventually have limited which games your system would play.

Back in March and April 2021, the PlayStation community became aware of an issue dubbed the 'CBOMB'. The problem is linked to the CMOS battery, which powers core information like the system clock in PS3, PS4, and PS5 consoles. If the battery fails, important system functions, including the ability to play certain games, would no longer be available.

In September, Sony fixed the issue on PS4, but there had been no word on concerns raised in April that similar problems could be faced by PS5 users in future. Digital Edition owners would be particularly badly affected, as while a CMOS failure wasn't thought to affect physical games, digital downloads couldn't be accessed at all, and with no disk drive, that would make those PS5s a very expensive ornament.

Now, however, it seems that Sony has addressed those potential problems. In a new video, hardware channel Hikikomori Media removed the CMOS battery from their own console, and found that almost all of their games were able to run. Online functionality was limited, but both physical disks and digital downloads worked. The only games that would be inaccessible in the event of a CMOS failure would be PS Plus titles, as the ability to verify a user's subscription is an online-only feature.

It's not clear when exactly Sony fixed the issue, but a couple of recent PS5 firmware updates might have snuck the solution through. While the more recent consoles both appear to have solved the problem, users have pointed out that the PS3 is still vulnerable, and given its relative age, could eventually lock players out of a number of their games.

Now that they'll be safe forever (maybe), here are some upcoming PS5 games to look forward to.

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.