A “small number” of PS3 gamers were in for a nasty surprise Tuesday night after downloading the latest 4.45 firmware update. They found that the update essentially bricked their console. Sony soon pulled it and said that an investigation was underway.
Sony announced via its forums that it has completed its investigation, and there’s good news. The engineers at Sony found the cause behind the 4.45 firmware bricking consoles. Unfortunately, there’s some bad news as well – the fix isn’t coming until next week.
The 4.45 firmware fix will be released on June 27. Those that don’t follow the calendar will be displeased to know that June 27 falls on a Thursday. That means some PS3 gamers won’t be able to play games for over a week as Sony works on this fix. That’s a bit of bad luck, especially for those who were just getting into The Last Of Us.
Now, many of you are understandably wondering how this fix will work. Without access to the XMB, players will only be able to install firmware by accessing safe mode on the PS3. It’s a pretty easy fix, but less knowledgable players will definitely need some help in setting it up. Sony says that instructions regarding how it will distribute the fix will come on the same day it’s released.
Ever since the firmware was first revealed to brick consoles, players have been calling on Sony to reimburse them in some way once a fix was released. Having to wait until next Thursday for said fix will no doubt increase those calls. Sony isn’t saying what it’ll do to make it up to gamers, but a month of PS Plus for all those affected wouldn’t be such a bad idea. The only problem is making sure only those who were affected be reimbursed without giving handouts to people just wanting free stuff.