PS5 Slim's detachable disc drive requires an internet connection to activate, and that sounds like a nightmare for game preservation
Some early images of the packaging for the PS5 Slim have hit the internet, and a warning at the bottom of the box suggests that you'll have to connect online in order to activate the console's detachable disc drive. That's setting off alarm bells for fans of physical games, who fear a future where the new PS5's disc drive might be little more than a glorified paperweight.
Images of the PS5 Slim Modern Warfare 3 bundle were posted by Charlie Intel on a reader tip earlier this week. Call of Duty fans were principally interested in the '150 GB minimum' mark on the back of the box, but as VGC notes, another warning caught many fans' eyes: "Internet connection required to pair disc drive and PS5 console upon setup."
If you haven't been keeping up with the PS5 Slim details so far, it's essentially a light console redesign that's intended to eventually replace the current hardware. Like the current PS5, it comes in two models: one with a disc drive, and one that's digital-only. The key difference is that the disc is detachable on the new model, and you can buy a new drive if you want to convert a digital-only PS5 Slim into one that can read discs.
On the initial announcement, physical game collectors and preservation enthusiasts weren't quite sure what to make of it. One on hand, making the disc drive optional could signal Sony's intent to eventually do away with physical game releases entirely, nudging disc-collecting holdouts ever closer to the digital-only future. On the other hand, a detachable disc drive could make it far easier to repair a PS5 suffering from failing disc-read capabilities in the decades to come.
Unfortunately, if you have to connect to the internet in order to pair the drive to the console, that makes it
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