What Is The PlayStation 4 Red Light

While most of the Playstation 4 consoles that gamers have gotten their hands on have worked without issue, there are some cases — less than 0.4% according to Sony — where the console isn’t working the way it’s intended.

There have been reports of faulty HDMI ports, an inability to download the update from PSN and even a “red line of death”. You read that right. On some people’s consoles, a blinking red line has appeared followed by a shut down of the system. But what exactly does the red light mean?

Well, it’s not entirely what you would assume it means.

According to the Playstation manual, the blinking red light simply means that your console is overheating. However, it doesn’t mean that your system is now bricked — unusable. Rather, it simply means that you need to keep the console off for a while in order for it to properly cool.

So, what causes your console to over heat? Well, the answers to that are pretty obvious.

Don’t keep your PS4 in a small, low ventilation area. As long as you keep it in an area where it can breath and not collect dust, you shouldn’t have to worry about the dreaded red light. Of course, if you continue to have issues after cool down, you should probably contact Sony itself.