The first SSD for the PS5 has been confirmed, and can cost up to $950

The first SSD for the PS5 has been confirmed, alongside official Sony support for external storage.

Up until now, your ability to pick up a PS5 external hard drive has been limited to pretty much nothing. Fortunately, earlier today hardware provider Seagate confirmed that its FireCuda 530 SSD (via Finder) "has met all the PS5 SSD requirements." That means that even with its heatsink variants, the Firecuda will mount within the PS5's narrow SSD slot, boosting your console's storage by either 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, or a maximum of 4TB. Given that the PS5's internal storage runs to only 667GB of useable space, that's a significant increase, even with the smallest drive.

Seagate is also boasting some serious speed on its new SSD, claiming that it'll transfer data twice as fast as the previous generation of drives, moving up to 7,300 MB/s. Overall, it claims that you'll be able to write and delete 70% of the drive's capacity every day for five years without a serious drop in performance, which is perfect if you're regularly switching between games.

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The Firecuda 530 is currently set to launch in August, so you won't have long to wait if you're planning to get your hands on one straight away. It will, however, set you back a little - the smallest drive runs to $140, with the largest, 4TB option costing $950. It's also important to remember that while the hardware itself will be available for purchase, Sony is yet to roll out SSD support to the majority of users - a new beta update adds compatibility for members of the testing program, but there's no word on when everyone else will get the chance to install some more storage, so it might be a little while longer before you're able to make your own modifications.

While this is the first SSD that works with the PS5, the tech itself isn't exactly brand new. PS4 SSD options have been available for a while now, and it's even easier to get your hands on a PS4 external hard drive.

Need to keep your games running super-fast? Check out our list to help you find the best SSD for gaming.

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.