Those 'melting' PS5 reports are a little alarming

The PS5 has sold like hot cakes since its 2020 release, leading to supply issues that have only begun to clear up in the last 12 months. But if you are one of the lucky owners of Sony's next-gen console, you might want to be careful of pushing it too hard – as some gamers have begun to discover. 

Somewhat alarmingly, multiple PS5 owners at a recent e-sports tournament experienced a 'melting' issue, with the console's USB port getting so hot that it has detached from the machine itself and become stuck inside whatever accessory was using it. (Feeling brave? Check out the best PS5 deals available now.)

The phenomenon was noticed at the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) tournament, an annual esports event focussed on fighting games – an event, ironically, owned by Sony since 2021. Several PS5 owners took to Twitter and Reddit after the August event to share images of melted plastic contaminating various USB jacks. 

It's curious that the incidents appear to have all taken place at the same event, and suggests that this issue isn't necessarily plaguing home users. Tournaments see consoles placed under unusually high stress, with a large volume of machines connected to various accessories.

That said, the melting suggests a design flaw in terms of a lack of heat dissipation – something that's particularly alarming considering that Sony recently made the PS5 lighter – and hotter – by reducing the size of the console's heat sink.

With rumours suggesting we're in for either a PS5 Slim or a PS5 Pro as soon as 2024, gamers might not have too long to wait for graphical advancements including an 8K “performance mode”, and accelerated ray tracing. But top of many a gamer's wish list might be improved heat management.