This may turn into a coolstorybro rant but I'll try to keep it shorter than that. I'm also not sure if there is a character limit so I'll be as brief as I can be.
Some thoughts/suggestions on the PS4 Scene and those that benefit from it:
1. To those wanting a new kex I can only suggest that you do one of these two things:
A - Update to the newest firmware, enjoy current games and one day enjoy the EOL kexploit that will inevitably come. Stop caring.
B - Do what I did a long time ago and build a backlog so you don't care about it at the moment. It's simple! Find old, great games from the past that you never played and play them. Catch up. In doing so you'll build a MODERN backlog so deep that you won't give a damn about a newer kex.
I just started playing Witcher 3 about 2 weeks ago. I'm about 50 hours in, a lvl 19 and just left Novigrad. It'll take me about 300 hours to finish. Awesome. Best part? It's no different than if I had played in 2015/16. It's the same A+ game and I'm just now getting to it because late-last gen I went back and played games I missed. PS3, PS2, PS1, PSP, Gamecube, etc. When I came back to PS4 I was literally a couple years behind.
The biggest benefit being that I grab new games, fully updated/patched for about $5. I paid $8 for Witcher 3 GOTY on disc. New. I don't plan to play a game on day one until Death Stranding and TLoU2. I could care less about a new kex beyond it being cool.
Do what YOU can to alleviate your need for one.
2. All that said, I don't think the practice of policing what users do with your exploit is right. Do users want to pirate games? Of course! Since the dawn of hardware and software exploitation it's been about backups. Grow the f up about that and let the 90% that only want free games play their free games, let the 10% that REALLY care about homebrew appreciate that. It doesn't matter. When an 0day is blown and it has no more use, release it. I get holding on to unpatched exploits, btw! Keep those (obviously).
3. Finally, let's talk about backups.
They only hurt a company when the option to pirate is available in the same release window as the product. Nobody loses when someone backs up a game 2 years after release (explained down below in a bit). The EU recently did a study trying to prove how harmful it is and only came out with the realization that it's a net-positive for a business. Let me explain:
Imagine a game company named "DEV1". Imagine DEV1 makes a game called "GAME1" and releases it. GAME1 hits the shelves and after 6 months it sells 100,000 copies on console and PC each. Well, it's easier to backup on PC so the user base on PC is 5% and on console it's less than 1% because there isn't a method to back it up at the moment. So 5,000 PC players didn't pay for GAME1 and less than 1,000 console players got it for free (basically zero).
Remember, we're 6 months post-release. The major sales have stalled. Suddenly, a console kexploit releases and console gamers can now get GAME1 for free! Oh, no! Right?
Wrong. Those backing up GAME1 were NEVER going to buy it. Ever. At best they'd have grabbed a 2nd hand copy in a few years that also amounted to a non-sale for DEV1. In both cases they didn't sell a copy of GAME1.
Yet, what did DEV1 gain from the users that backed up a copy? A user, of course. A person that was never going to try their product did try their product. What's the potential benefit of that? So much! It's huge!
That new user may play GAME1 and never think about it again. However, they may play it and fall in love with it! So, a gamer that was never going to pay for your product now loves your product. Well, they may now be excited enough about GAME2 to buy it. Further, they may buy merch related to GAME1 and your business. They may now buy other games you've made. Heck, they may even buy your console if they need it to play future titles! Endless possibility from a person that was NEVER going to buy your product anyway.
There is no loss and potential to gain where there was nothing previously. That's huge. If you have a kex and care about releasing it for fear of backups, stop. As long as it's out of the release window it doesn't hurt anyone.
One such dev made a YouTube appearance to talk about his life of exploiting, how he became a coder and the PS4 scene. He states that he is upset that users only care about backups and it has held him back from releasing work and working at all. He claimed it was a scene that only cared about backups, in a negative way.
He then goes on to say how he got into hacking/exploiting by backing up as a kid (lol). He stole software as a kid and that created the mentality and skills to do what he does. He said this with zero irony. It was ok for him, bad for others. Ok. Also, he backed up $10,000 software lmao. A $60 game is the bain of the scene and he began by backing up Maya and other insanely expensive software. I don't get it.
So, do what you can to not give a crap about a kex but those finding them shouldn't hold them for any reason beyond 0day.
/end rant.
As always DON'T UPDATE if you wish to use PS4 game backups and homebrew apps when a new jailbreak exploit arrives, and we'll add any related Tweets below as PlayStation 4 scene developers have a chance to examine it.
Here are some guides for those new on How to Block PS4 Firmware Updates, How to Delete Downloaded PS4 Update PUPs that haven't been installed yet, How to Update to a Specific PS4 Firmware and also some PS4 HEN Update Blocker Payloads.
Nah, don't update, but maybe $ony patched the hole?
