Sony didn’t explain how the new PlayStation 5 system software pulled it off, but we can safely say that it is a pleasant surprise nevertheless.

Last week, Sony released a bigger PlayStation 5 firmware update, which finally allows us to utilise the console’s NVMe M.2 SSD expansion port to increase our storage space. However, the patch notes do not describe the whole story, and we’re not going to tire everyone by listing what the new firmware does bring to the table.

In its weekly podcast, Digital Foundry announced how the PlayStation 5’s new firmware surprisingly increased the performance in several games. They named two examples, namely Control by Remedy Entertainment and Devil May Cry V by Capcom, respectively, both showcasing a 3-5% performance boost, and other games likely have this additional frame rate.

Digital Foundry found out about the extra performance by accident. They wanted to compare the original PlayStation 5 with the updated model (CFI-11XX with the smaller heatsink, and, turns out, no change in temperature or volume). They noticed the older launch model provides better performance. The reason was simple: the older PS5 had the new beta firmware installed. The team talks about it in the podcast’s first twelve minutes.

It’s still a good thing, as a higher (or more stable) frame rate never hurts, but we’re curious about how Sony managed to pull this off. Did they update a driver, possibly related to ray tracing? Did they dig deeper into the system software to notice something they missed before the PlayStation 5’s launch? We may never know.

So if you haven’t used your PlayStation 5 yet, make sure to pick up the new firmware as soon as you can. A more stable experience leads to a better gaming experience (if you play offline, online can change a thing or two).

Source: WCCFTech