A $10,000 reward aims to make Sony’s PlayStation 5 a PC again

Using your PlayStation device Playing games is good. But what if you could use your Sony controller to do it? vibe code With your AI agents running linux instead of? This is what the Property Defense Organization did feather He wants to make it possible, and he’s willing to pay $10,000 to prove it can be done.

Run by a YouTuber Louis Rossman and fellow consumer advocate Kevin O’Reilly, Fulu pays rewards to the first person proven to be able to fix or bypass product features that Fulu deems hostile to device owners. Fulu is giving away the first $10,000, then will match donations up to another $10,000. Since I started Late 2025Fulu has paid out two bounties so far — one of which is for fixing Google’s outdated system Nest thermostats And another to enable digital rights management Molecular air purifiers.

On Tuesday, follow Announce a reward This would reward hackers who can disable Sony’s proprietary software locks on its device PlayStation 5 Consoles, in theory, allow the user to install an operating system such as Linux on a gaming console.

“Make PlayStation computers again,” O’Reilly tells WIRED. “Let’s go back to general-purpose computing and understand that if we own the hardware, we should be able to put the software we want on it.”

In early July, Sony announced this Ending physical disc production For all new games on their respective PS5 consoles. The move was controversial, and caused consternation among players Advocacy groupsMany of them tend to like it Physical media And they have concerns about PlayStation consoles Terms of Servicewhich specifically states that purchasing a digital copy of the game does not mean you own it.

“A lot of PlayStation owners are worried about what will happen to their consoles,” O’Reilly says. “They are afraid that the rug will be pulled out of them at any moment.”

The current one Lack of RAM It has raised costs across all types of goods, including… Consumer technology He loves Sony controllers. As prices rise, Vuolo wants to make clear that the way to weather this price storm is to find a new way to rely on the devices you already own.

“Gaming consoles have a lot of computing power,” O’Reilly says. “Why can’t I repurpose that? If I’m trying to activate code or setup Agent AI systemsWhy can’t I use this box, this computer that I bought – that I own – to do what I want to do?”

Like all of Volo’s goals, there is danger associated with it. Violating the restrictions of the Company’s software may contravene Section 1201 of the Code DMCAlegislation passed in 1998 that prohibits users from bypassing digital locks on software services. It is a law punishable by fines and even imprisonment.

To win a Volo reward, a person must prove that they have a solution to the problem, but they are not required to disclose it to the public if they are concerned about potentially facing legal consequences. This means that even if the PS5 jailbreak is accomplished, it may not be available for people to widely use. Vuolo says the idea is less about actually making a relatively niche use case for the PS5 possible, and more about encouraging people to look differently at the type of control they have over their devices.

“Our property rights are constantly under attack,” O’Reilly says. “It’s time to have the conversation and get back to the idea that computers are computers and we should be able to use them the way we want.”