How to sign up to become a PS4 Beta tester

Vaughn Highfield June 9, 2020

Becoming a PS4 Beta tester is a great opportunity to tinker away with the latest features of Sony’s PS4 firmware. It used to be an exclusive program, but in 2015 Sony flung open the doors to its Beta Test program and now anyone can sign up.

Sony still asks that you sign up on a beta-by-beta basis but you can also complete a general enrollment form to receive new updates automatically. Thankfully it’s a relatively straightforward process that only takes a couple of minutes to complete.

Here’s how you can sign up to Sony’s PS4 Beta Tester program:

To register your interest in Sony’s beta program, simply sign up with your PlayStation Network account here.
Fill out the enrollment form and, if you want to be registered for all future updates, tick the box asking if you’d like to participate in all future System Software Betas.
That’s it, you’re done. You’ll receive an email stating if your application was successful and, when the next Beta is set to roll out, your PS4 will update ahead of time.

Not sure if you should take the plunge? Well, there are some things to bear in mind before you sign up:

Places are limited. Sony may have opened the gates to more testers, but it’s not allowing everyone to jump in and experience the new beta firmware all at once.
It’s only open to PS4 master accounts, so no sub-accounts can take part.
Your PS4 needs an active internet connection as Sony won’t be distributing the beta firmware as a downloadable file from its website.
The beta firmware may not be stable so don’t install it if you’re precious about your saved games and installed software or you would rather not experience any odd quirks when using your PS4.
You can always roll back to an earlier version of the firmware if you’re unsure of staying in the beta.