PS5's 'Recently Played' Section Wiped as Sony Contends with Another Security Concern 1
Image: Push Square

Update #3 []: It looks as though Sony is making some headway in resolving this issue, as the Recently Played/Most Played sections on our PS5 profiles have returned to normal.

These were out of action over the last day or so while Sony has tried to resolve a strange issue that made certain games appear in your profile that you didn't buy or play.

The fact these profile features have now come back suggests to me that the broader problem has been resolved; none of us at Push Square can see any unusual games listed, so hopefully it's the same for everyone.

I'll keep an eye out to see if anybody is still having issues with this, but fingers crossed it's been sorted now.

Update #2 []:

There still has been no official word on what's going on with this unusual story, but we've all double checked our accounts and they're still completely clear of games.

It does seem, then, that Sony is aware of the situation, and its temporary fix is to disable certain features to prevent strange games from popping up in PS5 profiles.

At this point it's fairly clear this is some kind of issue on Sony's side.

This thread, put together by X user @PorkPoncho, is perhaps the best explanation for what could be happening:

Essentially, PlayStation uses different identifying factors for games on the backend, and they serve separate purposes. One of them is related to your game library, and is what's used to fill in your profile's Recently Played/Most Played sections.

It appears this is where there's some sort of weakness that'd allow someone to insert fake data and make games appear in your feed, even though you've never interacted with them before.

All this stuff goes a little bit over my head, to be honest. Hopefully things will return to normal in due course; I'll update the article again once they do.

Update #1 []:

It looks like Sony is in the process of applying a band aid to its creaky network services, after PS5 owners spotted earlier today that games they didn’t own had been inexplicably added to their account.

The ‘Recently Played’ section on my – and many others’ – homepage has been completely wiped, presumably while PlayStation fixes up whatever the problem is.

PS5's 'Recently Played' Section Wiped as Sony Contends with Another Security Concern 2
Image: Push Square

It’s worth noting there is no evidence of any actual hacking occurring here, but given Sony’s spotty track record, we’ll be keeping a very close eye on this glitch.

Original Story: You may recall an unusual security issue that surfaced a little while ago, in which some PS5 accounts were breached by fooling customer service reps into providing access.

Well, while it appears Sony is tightening things up, some users are reporting odd occurrences on their PSN profiles, and it's even stranger than the last security scare.

This Reddit thread contains several individuals who say that games they haven't purchased or downloaded, let alone played, are showing up on their profiles.

In the original post's example, it shows a game named Sex Store Simulator as the user's most recently played game.

Not only does Reddit user xviixvo explain this isn't true, but the game isn't even available to buy or download via its PS Store listing. In other words, it's not even possible for them to have played it.

In the comments, the same user shares another screenshot, this time showing a game called Hentai Princess, which as far as I can tell doesn't have a public PS Store page at all.

Other games that are reportedly popping up include Avatar Island, Sex Shop Simulator, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Germany Quiz.

I don't see any such activity on my profile, but there are enough people talking about this that it does seem to be a legitimate thing.

While we have no explanation for what exactly is happening here, the issue has once again raised concerns about PlayStation's security.

From where I'm sitting, it seems like it could be some sort of error; the fact that some of the games aren't publicly available suggests to me it's a slip-up of some kind from the platform holder.

The trouble is, Sony is very disinclined to say anything even in the best of circumstances, so it's unlikely we'll get a proper explanation about this strange occurrence. That being said, I'll reach out to the company and will update if I hear back.

Have you noticed any activity like this? Tell us in the comments section below.

Thank you to Sacred Symbols for the tip.

[source reddit.com, via x.com]