The previously reported PlayStation 5 liquid metal issues are becoming increasingly widespread, and many units, especially launch units, that are out of warranty, could die in the next couple of years.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Moore Law Is Dead Broken Silicon podcast, Alderon Games founder Matthew Cassells highlighted how the system's critical flaw is causing the liquid metal used for cooling to drip down the bottom of the console when placed vertically, causing dry spots on the APU that compromise its functionality and forces a shutdown under certain conditions, is getting more widespread. A while back, the developer received reports that the latest update of their game, the dinosaur-themed MMO Path of Titans, was causing PlayStation 5 consoles to power off suddenly. Initially, the developer provided the usual basic troubleshooting advice, like cleaning the console, but the issue persisted. After pinning the related discussion thread on the developer's Discord server, more people showed up reporting the problem, and after Alderon Games pinned a more general message asking players to report if their PlayStation 5 systems were suddenly shutting down while playing any game, a lot more users showed up with their reports. Some members of the team also experienced similar issues and are now investigating what could be the cause. Everything seems to point to the liquid metal issue, which is more likely to manifest with the console placed vertically.
After talking with Sony about this issue, Alderon Games discovered that the more intensive the game gets, the higher the chances are of a PlayStation 5 shutting down due to the liquid metal issues. With the latest update to Path of Titans, the percentage of players affected by the issue rose to 2%, 3%, which may not sound like a lot, but it's still a lot of units. However, better pinpointing what is causing affected systems to shut down is difficult, according to the Alderon Games founder, as it seems to depend on the combination of where the dry spot is and what component of the APU is stressed the most. As there's no way to track CPU and GPU temperature via software, troubleshooting is extremely difficult, and any fix on the developer's part, such as limiting framerate to avoid putting any of the system's components under stress, could end up impacting those with fully working systems for no reason.
Thankfully, not all PlayStation 5 systems are affected the same way by this design flaw. Sony attempted to fix it in the slim revision and the PS5 Pro by adding ridges to the APU and heatsink to prevent the liquid metal from dripping to the bottom of the console, but it's too early to say if this actually fixed the issue. Older models are more at risk, and with most of them now being out of warranty, repairing them could be a costly endeavor. Talking with Sony about the issue, Matthew Cassells suggested setting up a free repair program for systems affected by the issue, but this may not be feasible, considering how many systems are affected. The situation may not be as bad as with the many Xbox 360 consoles that failed with the infamous RRoD, but it is still bad enough that the Alderon Games founder believes that a lot of systems will die in the next couple of years. And with liquid metal degradation issues reportedly impacting all systems, regardless of their position, a lot more systems could fail in the future.
Having used my launch PlayStation 5 not a whole lot, I can't say I have experienced the liquid metal issues that many are experiencing, but if more and more users are indeed affected by them, Sony will eventually have to address them in some manner. Hopefully, the company will indeed follow Alderon Games' founder's advice and set up a free repair program that would definitely make a lot of customers happy.
Persisten metal liquid cooling issues could be only one of the critical PlayStation 5 issues Sony may have to address in 2026. With the system's ROM keys leaking online, only a new hardware revision could patch a critical system vulnerability that can grant complete access to the system
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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