PS5 13.60 Jailbreak: What It Teaches Sony and the Games Industry

Updated October 2026 · Opinion and analysis by the Sheenu Game Center team

A public PS5 jailbreak called Relapse, covering firmware 7.00 through 13.60, went public on 29 September 2026, and the reaction says more about the state of console gaming than the exploit itself. This is not a how-to. We don’t encourage jailbreaking or piracy, and it can get your account and console banned. What we want to ask is the bigger question: why do so many players feel the official PlayStation experience has stopped working for them? The answer runs through disappearing discs, scarce and expensive consoles, rising game prices, half-complete editions, paid online play and a quiet loss of ownership. Since most of our customers are in India, we look at both India and the US.

Why Gamers Are Leaning Toward Jailbreaking Anyway

The fear of bans hasn’t stopped people, and the reasons are mostly about money and control rather than mischief. Players are paying more for the console, more for each game, and often more again for the full edition, while owning less of what they buy. When a console costs ₹69,990, a new game costs about ₹6,000, and online play sits behind a yearly subscription, an unlocked console starts to look like the one way to get something back.

What do players want from an open console? Mostly things Sony doesn’t offer: homebrew apps, emulation (coverage of Relapse highlights PS2 emulation), backups of games they already own, and the freedom to tinker with hardware they paid for. A smaller group is drawn by the idea of dodging recurring fees, and this is where Linux comes in. Linux has run on jailbroken PS5s, and early tests ran PC games through Steam’s Proton layer. Steam charges no subscription for online play, so in theory a hacked PS5 could double as a PC with free online gaming. In practice there are big catches. Linux currently works on consoles up to firmware 7.61, a version for 13.60 is still in testing and needs a second exploit, and Notebookcheck reports that PSN is no longer reachable on 13.60. It also breaks Sony’s terms and can get an account or console banned, so we don’t recommend it. But it shows what players are reaching for: a console that behaves like a PC, without another subscription.

That perception is the real story. When a growing slice of players would rather risk their account than keep paying, the problem isn’t only security. It’s value.

What the PS5 13.60 Jailbreak Is, and What It Isn’t

According to Tom’s Hardware and VideoCardz, Relapse works on PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles running firmware 7.00 to 13.60. It is tethered, so it has to be re-run after every restart, and consoles updated to firmware 14.00 (released 16 September) fall outside its range. The trade-off is harsh: staying on old firmware can block newer games and patches, and the project itself warns of crashes and possible permanent bans from PlayStation Network.

Sony usually answers exploits with firmware updates, and it will likely do so again. A patch fixes the hole, not the reason people want to open the box in the first place. Here is what the jailbreak should teach Sony and every publisher watching.

Lesson 1: Discs Are Disappearing, and So Is Choice

On 1 July 2026 Sony confirmed that physical disc production for new PlayStation games ends in January 2028. After that, new games will be sold only in digital form, at the PlayStation Store or through retailers. Sony’s CFO has since said the company will move forward cautiously, but the direction is fixed. Rockstar went first: the boxed edition of GTA VI contains only a download code, not a disc.

This hits India harder than most markets. A disc could be lent to a friend, resold, or bought pre-owned at a fraction of the launch price. A code in a box can do none of that. Our own PS5 trade-in page exists because players rely on that second-hand loop to afford new games. When it goes away, the price on the store page is the price you pay.

Lesson 2: Scarce, Expensive Consoles, Especially in India

Hardware tells the same story. PS5 stock in India has been hard to find for roughly six months. Availability dried up on Amazon, Flipkart and Vijay Sales after Sony’s global price rise, and Sony India’s managing director acknowledged the company hasn’t brought in enough units without giving a restock date. On 1 August the standard PS5 appeared at ₹69,990 on Sony’s ShopATSC store, up ₹15,000 from ₹54,990, while the disc model showed as out of stock.

In the US, Sony’s 2 April price rise set the standard PS5 at $649.99, the Digital Edition at $599.99 and the PS5 Pro at $899.99. At roughly ₹95 to the dollar, $649.99 is about ₹62,000. Even allowing for US prices excluding sales tax while Indian prices include GST, the Indian sticker is no cheaper, and average incomes in India are far lower. Sony blames a global memory and storage shortage driven by AI demand. That may be true, but it doesn’t make a ₹70,000 console an easy first purchase. You can still see our earlier coverage of the Digital Edition price rise.

Lesson 3: Game Prices Keep Climbing, in India and the US

Games are following consoles up. Here is how a few recent releases compare, using about ₹95 per dollar:

• EA SPORTS FC 27 Standard: $69.99 in the US (about ₹6,600) against roughly ₹6,000 in India. Nominally a little cheaper here, but a far bigger slice of an Indian gamer’s budget. See the US PlayStation Store listing and our EA SPORTS FC 27 for PS5 page.
• GTA VI Standard: Rockstar priced it at $79.99 (about ₹7,600), $10 above the $69.99 most big releases charge. Check our GTA 6 PS5 listing for the Indian price.
• WWE 2K26 Standard: $69.99 in the US. See our WWE 2K26 for PS5 page.

Add the console, a second controller and a subscription, and the real entry fee for a new PlayStation player in India has become punishing.

Lesson 4: Online Play Shouldn’t Be a Second Paywall

On the PS5, online multiplayer in most paid games requires a PlayStation Plus subscription, with free-to-play games the main exception. Sony does open free multiplayer weekends now and then, most recently in December 2025, which shows the network can handle players without a subscription.

Here is the case for making online play free. Players have already paid for the console and the game, and Sony takes its commission on every digital sale. For many titles the servers are run by the publisher, not Sony, and on PC, Steam charges no subscription for online play. Paying again for access to a game you already own feels like paying twice. The fee lands hardest in markets like India, where it is one more recurring cost on top of ₹60,000-plus for the box.

To be fair to Sony, PS Plus also bundles monthly games, a catalogue, cloud saves and the cost of running PSN and moderation. But bundling is a reason to make the subscription worth buying, not to lock a basic feature behind it. Make online play free and keep PS Plus as the optional extra.

Lesson 5: Even After Paying, You Don’t Get the Whole Game

The sticker price is only the start. More and more, the game you want is split across editions:

• WWE 2K26: Standard is $69.99. The King of Kings Deluxe Edition is $99.99, the Attitude Era Edition $129.99 and the Monday Night War Edition $149.99, which include one, four or all six Ringside Pass seasons. Standard owners pay $9.99 per season, and DLC superstars sit on the premium track. That is roughly $60 extra on top of the base price for the full set.
• EA SPORTS FC 27: Standard is $69.99 and the Ultimate Edition is $99.99, adding up to 6,000 FC Points over three months and an extra Player Evo slot. Every edition has the same football; the extra money buys a head start and Ultimate Team currency.
• GTA VI: The $99.99 Ultimate Edition adds premium vehicles, weapons and apparel that Standard buyers don’t get.

Notice the pattern: the base price keeps rising, while the “complete” experience keeps moving up the menu.

Lesson 6: Ownership, or the Lack of It

Sony told a US federal court on 21 August that reasonable shoppers would not be misled into thinking they own the digital games they buy, in response to a class action over the “Buy Now” button, according to Decrypt. Sony points to licence terms saying software is licensed, not sold. Separately, Sony has said it will shut the PS3 and Vita stores by July 2027. Put it together: the store can close, the licence can change, an account can be banned, and the disc is on its way out. “Buy Now” starts to feel like “Rent Now.”

Then vs Now: When Every Game Shipped Complete

In the PS2, PS3 and early PS4 days, options were limited, but the disc on the shelf was the whole game. You could lend it, resell it and trade it in. Expansions were real content, and cheat codes were free (our GTA V cheat codes guide still gets traffic for that reason). A game like the GTA V Premium Edition for PS4 shipped with the story, the online mode and the extras in one box. Today a standard edition is just a tier on a menu.

Lesson 7: Remasters and Remakes Won’t Carry a Generation

Sony closed Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the Demon’s Souls remake and the Shadow of the Colossus remaster, in March 2026 after its live-service God of War project was cancelled. PC Gamer reports that Sony planned 12 live-service games by 2025 and cancelled eight of them. The lesson isn’t that remasters are bad. It’s that a generation needs new worlds, in both quality and quantity, not one big release a year padded with ports and remakes.

Marvel’s Wolverine, released on 15 September 2026 as a PS5 exclusive, is the kind of single-player release the platform needs more of. Players buy consoles for games they can’t play anywhere else. If those games arrive rarely and cost $80 plus extras, the console looks like an expensive way to wait.

Our Ideas: How Sony and Others Can Win Players Back

What This Means for Indian Gamers

Be careful, and be practical. Jailbreaking risks bans, lost access to digital purchases and a console stuck on old firmware, so we advise against it. Buy from authorised sellers so your warranty is valid, compare editions before paying for extras, and use trade-in and pre-owned options to cut costs. Browse our PS5 Slim Disc Edition and PS5 Pro pages, read our PS5 vs PS5 Slim comparison, and see whether Black Friday 2026 will help. For context on the last big PlayStation exploit, read our PS4 11.00 jailbreak report.

The Verdict

The PS5 13.60 jailbreak will be patched, but the frustration behind it won’t be. Players are telling the industry that they want fair prices, complete games, free basic online play, real ownership and more new exclusives. The company that listens will earn more loyalty than any firmware update can.

PS5 13.60 Jailbreak: Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to jailbreak a PS5?

Not without risk. Coverage of Relapse warns of crashes, lost access to PlayStation Network and digital purchases, and permanent account or console bans. We don’t recommend it.

Which PS5 firmware does the 13.60 jailbreak support?

Relapse is reported to work on firmware 7.00 through 13.60 on the PS5 and PS5 Pro. It does not cover firmware 14.00, released on 16 September.

Is Sony really ending physical discs?

Yes, for new games. Sony says disc production for new PlayStation releases ends in January 2028, and titles released before then are unaffected.

Why is the PS5 so expensive in India now?

Sony cites a global memory and storage shortage. The standard PS5 rose by ₹15,000 to ₹69,990 on Sony’s ShopATSC store, and stock has been scarce for months.

Can you play online on a jailbroken PS5 without PS Plus?

Not at the moment. Linux with Steam has run PC games on jailbroken consoles up to firmware 7.61, but a 13.60 version is still in testing, and PSN is reported to be unreachable on 13.60. That means a jailbroken console on the Relapse firmware loses official online play. On a normal console, free-to-play games don’t need PS Plus, but most paid multiplayer games do. We don’t recommend jailbreaking.