PS5 Slim’s new external disc drive requires online “pairing” before use

Enlarge / Sony wants you to make an online check in before using that external drive with your PS5 Slim. (credit: Sony)

The upcoming launch of a redesigned "PS5 Slim" model will mark the first PlayStation to support an optional disc drive add-on for the shrinking number of players who want to stick with physical media. But players who want to use that drive to enjoy their PS5 discs offline must first perform a mandatory online check-in to pair the external disc drive with a specific console.

That's according to Call of Duty news site CharlieIntel, which posted early pictures of the packaging for a new PS5 Slim bundle that includes a disc drive and a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. That packaging includes some tiny disclaimer text notifying players that an "Internet connection [is] required to pair Disc Drive and PS5 console upon setup."

The odd-sounding requirement may be part of an anti-piracy effort by Sony to ensure that only authorized, validated drives are connected to their hardware (preventing the connection of modified or generic drives that might aid in decrypting the data on those discs, for instance). In 2020, Wired tried swapping the stock disc drives included in two launch-era PS5 consoles, only to find that the new consoles didn't recognize the "unpaired" daughterboard on their "new" disc drives. Similar drive-pairing security is built into the drive assemblies for consoles going back to the Xbox 360 era at least.