A PlayStation user has been given a whopping $50,000 by Sony after they found an issue with the PlayStation 5. The stunning sum could leave some PlayStation gamers a bit envious, but in theory, anyone could potentially qualify for another $50,000 from the console manufacturer.
It hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing for PlayStation in recent times, as Sony deals with the backlash following the announcement that new physical games for PlayStation would be discontinued, plus the continued rising cost of the console family. While it’s likely that those issues won’t change, maintaining a solid system free of exploits and glitches is a necessity in order to keep the active playerbase happy.
PlayStation User Awarded $50,000
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Image via Sony -
Image via Sony -
via Sony
While most PlayStation gamers usually give the company money, it’s pretty rare for it to work the other way around. Accordingly, a user’s reveal that they were awarded $50,000 by Sony has left some fans envious. A hacker going by 2tonejordy revealed on Twitter that they had been granted the maximum award possible in the PlayStation bug bounty program, and joked that they figured they could now afford Grand Theft Auto 6 with the newly-awarded sum.
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The PlayStation Bug Bounty program was opened to the public back in 2020, prior to the release of the PlayStation 5. The program is designed to reward users and hackers who discover problems or exploits attached to the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and the website itself. However, the awards vary depending on the severity of the issue that’s reported to Sony. The lowest-possible award in the low tier is $250, or $500 if it’s directly connected to either the PS4 or PS5. Awards are classified into low, medium, high, and critical severity. According to the records on HackerOne, only one other person has ever been granted the maximum award of $50,000 by Sony, with three years transpiring between the two awards. The average bounty paid across the board is $400.
While the official HackerOne page doesn’t state what was reported that led to the bounty being awarded, prior posts from 2tonejordy shed some light on the matter. In September, the user indicated that they had reported a hypervisor exploit to Sony. This exploit was utilized by another user, theflows, to create a Linux mod for the PlayStation 5, who had asked 2tonejordy to not report it to Sony until after the release of GTA 6, so that users utilizing the mod could buy the game legitimately. However, after a third party reportedly discovered the same issue, 2tonejordy went ahead with the report, creating some controversy among the community. Now that it’s been reported, modder theflows is reportedly stepping away from the modding scene entirely.
While not everyone will be capable of finding issues with PlayStation consoles, those who think they have what it takes may want to keep the bug bounty program in mind. According to HackerOne, Sony has paid out over $228,000 in bounties in just the last 90 days, as of publication time, and a total of $1.15 million since its inception.
