Only a couple of days ago, a report broke news that Sony will be shutting down the PlayStation Stores for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation Vita, effectively making it impossible to buy any digital games or DLC for the consoles. The move, while not technically official (yet), has been met with widespread criticism, especially from preservationists, and now it's been reported that a potentially even worse problem could be on the horizon for the PlayStation 4.
Earlier this month, media preservation group Does It Play? shared a PlayStation 4 error code labelled ERROR CE 34878-0. While a quick Google search suggests that it simply means the game someone was playing has crashed, Does It Play? claims that it's specifically related to the console's CMOS battery. According to them, if/when the battery dies, it renders all digital files unusable without a server reconnection and even kills disc playback. In layman's terms, the PS4 literally becomes incapable of playing any games.
Hacker Lance McDonald has more recently raised awareness of the issue and further explained it. According to him, the error exists because of how Trophies work. On PS4, Trophies are reliant on the console's internal clock (which is part of the CMOS battery). When awarding a Trophy, it checks to make sure the time the Trophy was earned is correct and hasn't been altered. If it has, then the console prevents users from running games. This normally wouldn't be a problem since users can't alter the internal clock anyway (at least not without actively hacking it) but, as stated earlier, the clock battery dying effectively bricks the console.
For the time being, there are solutions to the problem. It's still possible to just replace the battery if it dies and the system clock can be reset by connecting to the PlayStation Network. But, as McDonald points out, what happens when Sony decides to shut the PSN down? Given the recent news about the PS3 and handheld stores shutting down, it does seem almost inevitable. While the PS4 is still a popular and commonly used console, Sony won't keep supporting it forever and the company clearly wishes for more people to jump ship to the PlayStation 5.
McDonald does suggest that the issue can be circumvented with a firmware update that lets people play games offline without Trophy support (with the only caveat being, well, the lack of Trophies), but he believes that Sony won't bother due to it being a low priority for the company. It still feels like something Sony needs to address at some point. The PS4 is sitting in millions of households and none of those owners will be thrilled should their console become a glorified paperweight.
The whole thing only further highlights the positives of Microsoft and its Xbox Series X. A key selling point for Microsoft's console has been that it is fully backwards compatible with every Xbox One game, with Microsoft also promising continued support for the Xbox One. All in all, it's an aspect that makes the new Xbox more appealing than Sony's new hardware to many potential consumers.