On May 30th, Sony unleashed the 4.70 system update for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. The update increases the quality of the system’s overall performance, allows players to view match results for tournaments, and slightly changed some of the icons. While it isn't a big update, it is an important one. The update requires 340MB of free space in order to install and is mandatory in order to use any online functions. However, in an ironic twist, several users report that the update nearly bricked their consoles.

A bricked console is basically a useless piece of junk, and you might as well own a brick. PlayStation 4 owners have flooded Twitter, Reddit, and the PlayStation community forum with their stories.

For many, the problems began while the system was updating. Either the update wouldn’t complete or it would take an extraordinarily long time. Once installed, other users reported that the console would not recognize inputs from the controller, requiring multiple restarts (some in safe mode) in order to correct the problem. For others still their consoles stuttered, froze (often on the home screen), were slow to process, or otherwise couldn't be turned off unless unplugged. What’s more, there are reports of corrupted saved data files for games both on disk and installed directly onto the PS4.

This isn’t the first PlayStation 4 update that has given users serious problems. The previous 4.55 update also caused similar issues. Similar to 4.70, 4.55 targeted system efficiency and was designed to increase the stability of the console. So far, only a small percentage of users have reported problems with 4.70. Sony appears to be aware of the situation and has directed users to an error code discussion page on their website. A user by the name of BeefThew claims to have found the solution to the problem.

According to BeefThew, you need to cancel and delete the update from the notifications list. From there, it is a matter of signing in and following the update prompts that pop up. Hopefully, these issues will be resolved sooner rather than later.