Skip to main content

Did you know that cockroaches really love your PS4?

ps4 cockroach house roach
Tenra/123RF
Give your PlayStation 4 a gentle shake and you might discover that it’s been operating not only as a gaming console, but also as a motel. For cockroaches.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, roaches are reportedly one of the main causes of PS4 breakdowns.

It seems that the wide ventilation grate at the base of the machine offers the perfect entry point for the critters, which love the PS4 for its cozy, warm interior, according to a report this week from gaming site Kotaku. With many PS4 owners resting their machine on its side with the base exposed, the roaches are able move into their new home with ease.

A Manhattan-based console repair store told the site it has a bag full of dead cockroaches extracted from broken PS4 machines brought in by gamers. The store receives at least one roach-infested PS4 a week, and now charges a $25 “roach fee” to deal with such cases.

While cockroaches can also live happily enough inside an Xbox, the PS4 seems to be the console of choice for the insect thanks to its wider grate, and also because the PS4 runs hotter than its rival machine, creating a very comfy nesting ground.

The problem is, the more roaches that move in, the more chance there is of damage to one of the PS4’s components, leading to a trip to the repair store where “independent console repairmen have the pleasure of scrubbing the roach crap off your console’s power supply,” Kotaku explained.

At the store, staff open up the PS4, remove the roach-related detritus, sterilize the interior, and replace any broken parts before putting it back together.

While you might think that it’s better to have roaches inside your PS4 rather than scurrying around your kitchen exploring your edibles, the likelihood is that if they’re in your gaming machine, there’ll be a lot more of them in your kitchen. So, yes, the best way to keep the critters out of your PS4 — and all of the rooms in your home — is simply to keep your living space as clean as you possibly can. Either than or put some cash aside for a trip to your local PS4 repair store.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The best single-player games
The Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom.

It's never been a better time to be a multiplayer gamer, with fantastic titles such as Fortnite, GTA Online, and Call of Duty: Warzone taking the industry by storm. However, the same can be said about single-player experiences, especially in recent years thanks to the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Dedicated single-player games are some of the richest, most beloved experiences in the medium, and in this list, we'll go through the very best. These are the best single-player games.

Read more
Xbox games on PS5? It’s not as shocking as you think
Key art for Starfield

It's been a busy few weeks for console war soldiers.

Tensions spiked last month when "Nate the Hate," an industry insider with a decent track record, claimed that Hi-Fi Rush was headed to Nintendo Switch. The rumor sparked some mixed feelings among Xbox fans, some of whom expressed dismay over one of the console's system-selling exclusives coming to another platform. Other reports at the time claimed that Rare's Sea of Thieves could also be bound for PlayStation and Switch. That rising anger came to a head this weekend when XboxEra reported that Xbox is planning to launch its biggest exclusive, Starfield, on PS5.

Read more
How to use an external hard drive on PS5
Two versions of the PS5 side by side.

The PlayStation 5 is a remarkable system, but it doesn't come with much storage space. Breaking from the 1TB the Xbox Series X offers, the PS5 only offers 825GB. Worse, after accounting for the storage space the PS5 takes up by default, users are left with just over 650GB of space. Thankfully, you can use external storage to expand your space, and in this guide, we're going to show you how to use an external hard drive on PS5.
How to use an external HDD or SSD on PS5

Before you can use an external hard drive on PS5, you need to make sure it's compatible. It doesn't matter if your external drive is a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD), you can use it on PS5 as long as it uses USB 3.0 or later. USB 2.0 external hard drives won't work. Because they won't work, you'll need to connect your external hard drive to one of the two USB-A ports on the back of the PS5. The USB-A port on the front is only rated for USB 2.0, so it won't work. Also, plug the drive directly into a console (don't use a USB hub or extension cable).

Read more