After Flatz revealed a lot of details on how to create our own package files (arguably, for the sake of streamlining future homebrew support), it was only a matter of time: piracy is now a thing on PS4 4.05. And it appears to be much more easier than it used to on firmware 1.76.

There’s already been multiple “dumps” of 4.05 compatible games circulating on the intertubes, and several scene members have confirmed these packages do work. People who worry about piracy for the sake of game preservation have warned that the current dumps being circulated will lead to compatibility issues in the future. But people willing to play AAA titles for free on their 4.05 will most likely not care about those details.

Without going into details, the same technique to install and run homebrews on 4.05 is basically used to run these decrypted game packages, using the recently released PS4Hen. As for creating them, most people so far use a series of tools named PKG Kitchen, an all in one system to rip games into a pkg file.

It isn’t surprising, given the opportunity, that we are seeing a huge flow of pirated retail games within days of the tools being made available for all to use. What we should hope for, however, is that the scene will not stop at piracy, and will also focus some of its efforts on Homebrew.

As of now, only games that require firmware 4.05 or less are impacted by this flood of piracy. This means games from 2017, and upcoming PS4 games are not impacted by this.