If you have noticed your PlayStation 5 'Recently Played' section is currently blank, you aren't the only one. Sony appears to have disabled the feature as it works to address an ongoing security issue where users have reported seeing games they never purchased or played appearing on their profiles.
The trouble first gained traction earlier this week when users on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) began sharing screenshots of their accounts populated with titles like Sex Shop Simulator, Hentai Princess, and Germany Quiz. In some cases, the games appearing on profiles are not even available on the PlayStation Store, making it impossible for those users to have actually interacted with them.
What Is Causing the Phantom Games?
While Sony has yet to issue an official statement regarding the root cause, technical observers suggest the problem lies within the backend infrastructure. PlayStation uses specific identifying factors to populate the 'Recently Played' and 'Most Played' sections of a user's profile. It appears there is a vulnerability in these APIs that allows unauthorized data to be injected, causing fake or incorrect game titles to appear in a user's activity feed.
X user @PorkPoncho noted that the issue likely stems from how the network services serve separate game library data. By exploiting a weakness in how this data is handled on the backend, it seems external actors have been able to force these titles into the public-facing profiles of unsuspecting players.
Is Your Account at Risk?
While the sudden appearance of random, sometimes explicit, titles is alarming, there is currently no evidence that users' accounts have been compromised by hackers. The removal of the 'Recently Played' section acts as a temporary “band-aid” to stop the flow of bad data while the platform holder attempts to secure its network services.
This latest incident follows a security vulnerability reported last month, which involved bad actors manipulating customer service representatives to gain unauthorized access to PS5 accounts. Given Sony’s history of quiet communication regarding technical hiccups, it remains unclear when the 'Recently Played' feature will return to normal function. For now, the section remains cleared across the board for users who have checked their accounts.