Answer (without even needing to read the article): they can't legally brick your console, but we live in an oligarchy that refuses to enforce the law against the powerful.
this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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They can't physically disable your hardware, but they can force a software update that essentially makes the hardware useless.
If you're able to replace that software, you could probably keep playing offline, but they're not going to make it easy for you to do so.
I'm not talking about technical capability; I'm talking about legality.
In any sort of just world, bricking your console (through a software update or otherwise) would be a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the executives who ordered the policy would go to prison.
Nonsense.
You can't brick a console on me if I leave it on the shelf at the store.
Yeah, that console represents a future revenue stream for them. Bricking it will turn the maximum expected lifetime revenue they can get from that console to zero.