Sony To Pay $50k Bounty To Find PS4, PlayStation Network Bugs, Glitches

With bugs and glitches still present in video games, a new Sony initiative will offer players cash rewards for rooting them out in PS4 games and on the PlayStation Network.

Although the PlayStation 5 is already looming with the last quarter of 2020 release, the PlayStation 4 is still dropping new games. Thus, Sony Interactive Entertainment Senior Director Software Engineering Geoff Norton has announced a new initiative dubbed the PlayStation Bug Bounty program.

Screen Rant report that this collaboration with web security group HackerOne will offer cash rewards to players who find bugs and glitches for both games on the PS4 and the PlayStation Network. Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, pay rates will vary with the highest rewards reaching up to $50,000.

For the longest time, bugs and glitches have been part and parcel of the field that is video game programming. Even the tiniest coding error can affect how a game is played. Older glitches include spots on a basketball floor being the best place to release shots with hardly any misses. Recent examples include “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” allowing players to duplicate their furniture for a fast bell.

Yet other instances have glitches causing a game to crash entirely or rendering a save file completely unusable. Though glitches somehow manage to keep rearing their ugly heads, the PlayStation Bug Bounty Program will now allow some players to make a profit from discovering them.

Mere weeks after the PlayStation 5 console was finally revealed by Sony, the entire gaming industry is all set for the next generation of console wars. Therefore, it’s becoming even more imperative for companies to uncover potentially game-breaking glitches and bugs. The PlayStation Bug Bounty program could prove to be a boon for both Sony and its legion of players and fans.

For Sony to incentivize the discovery of these bugs with the PlayStation Bug Bounty program will not just prove financially lucrative to the players that find them, it will also help companies like Sony to protect their games and improve the overall gaming experience. It’s an interesting prospect for players looking to make some significant changes while helping to improve PlayStation’s software and online services, Screen Rant reports.