Tuesday, July 12th 2022
Western Digital Releases First Officially Licensed M.2 SSD for the Sony PlayStation 5
Western Digital Corp. and Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC ("SIE") teamed up to deliver the industry's first official PlayStation -licensed M.2 SSD for PlayStation 5 (PS5) to gamers across the globe. The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5 Consoles enables players to expand the high-speed storage capacity of their PS5 console and gives them peace of mind knowing that their new and favorite titles are stored on a drive that's been battletested to take on the most intensive PS5 gameplay.
Optimized for the newest-generation console, Western Digital validated drive performance through multiple scenarios to ensure the drive has been fully tested for the PS5. This process included hundreds of hours spent rigorously testing some of the most graphic-rich titles across various genres to ensure that with games stored on the drive, gameplay is fast, smooth and visually immersive.
"We're excited for this new journey with Sony Interactive Entertainment and the opportunity to bring the officially licensed drive to PS5 gamers," said Susan Park, vice president of Consumer Solutions Product Management, Western Digital. "Western Digital's WD_BLACK brand was created to bring high-performance products to gamers everywhere. Combined with this innovative partnership, we aim to deepen our current commitment to developing storage solutions that enhance the gaming experience for all gamers."
With the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5, gamers can store and play both PS5 games and PS4 games directly from the drive. The drive's attached heatsink also makes installation quicker with its all-in-one design. Gamers can cut down on long load times with PCIe Gen4 technology, reaching up to 7000 MB/s read speed to get them in the game fast so they can focus more on gaming.
Availability
The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5 retails for $169.99 USD (1 TB) and $279.99 USD (2 TB) and is now available for purchase exclusively at Best Buy (in stores and online) and on the Western Digital online store. It will be available for purchase from other select retailers, etailers and resellers starting mid-August 2022.
Source:
Western Digital
Optimized for the newest-generation console, Western Digital validated drive performance through multiple scenarios to ensure the drive has been fully tested for the PS5. This process included hundreds of hours spent rigorously testing some of the most graphic-rich titles across various genres to ensure that with games stored on the drive, gameplay is fast, smooth and visually immersive.
With the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5, gamers can store and play both PS5 games and PS4 games directly from the drive. The drive's attached heatsink also makes installation quicker with its all-in-one design. Gamers can cut down on long load times with PCIe Gen4 technology, reaching up to 7000 MB/s read speed to get them in the game fast so they can focus more on gaming.
Availability
The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5 retails for $169.99 USD (1 TB) and $279.99 USD (2 TB) and is now available for purchase exclusively at Best Buy (in stores and online) and on the Western Digital online store. It will be available for purchase from other select retailers, etailers and resellers starting mid-August 2022.
19 Comments on Western Digital Releases First Officially Licensed M.2 SSD for the Sony PlayStation 5
but someone can please tell me what is a difference of the licensed product ?
much i know people already install other brand's ssd to playstation, so what so special about this one ?
C'mon, folks! :laugh:
You may also ask Jen Huang for Radeon drivers... :D
Until then, all you are buying is licensing fee's paid to Sony with a markup on the cost of a drive.
Why not making the heatsink has PS logo on it? Or even paint it black and blue to match PS5 color? (Not that it matters when in usage)
Now you can get a cheaper product or a better product but there were cases where people had SD cards melt into the Switch SD card slot destroying the unit or making the SD slot useless. This never happened with the official ones.
So the real point of all this is that the device has been tested and Mom and Dad can buy it without worrying and stores can sell it and not worry about people getting angry when it fucks up on them. It's not really for people like us.
Nearly 2 years later, still terrible availability, but at last "certified SSD" for it is available... :(
The point of a Playstation is not for you to play games. It's to make money for the shareholders and executives of Sony and the parties that sell them. Period and end of story. If it blew up and burned down your house and it was cheaper to pay off the dead bodies than it was to fix the issue then in capitalism your house should burn down.
And since the prices have gone up and people paid them, the market demands the prices stay up. Anything less is not how things work.
I see them in stock everytime I go to the store but they are being sold at the new market price.
However of course there was/is scalpers gouging.
Just had a rethink we do get forced bundles which cost more, so there is that form of gouging actually. :(