Sony would have been hoping for a smooth transition to the PS5 and next-gen era. But they have been suffering from self-inflicted wounds for nearly a week.
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Now it looks like they are responding to user feedback on some of the more controversial and frustrating changes they implemented in the PS4 8.00 firmware update.
PS4 message group & party mess
Sony meant to create a better UI for the PS4, and instead has added unnecessary steps to party chats that have infuriated players.
Previously, anyone with a PlayStation Plus subscription could start a party and invite others to join them in-game as well as in voice chat.
Invites could be sent out to anyone, and everyone went their separate ways once the party was ended.
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+ 3With the update, Sony tied PS4 parties to message groups.
This isn't a problem if you just have the same squad of friends for gaming with, but it's ridiculously complicated for those who just want to party up with someone who isn't in a group with them already.
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What was previously a single click to invite a random to party chat, has now turned into creating a new message group and inviting them to that, then to party chat.
This is obviously an unnecessary hassle, especially if you are diving in-and-out of co-op games, as you will now end up with dozens of message groups for every party joined.
Sony is listening
At least Sony realises there is a problem here.
click to enlarge + 3That doesn't mean the feature change will be rolled back though. Given how much cross-platform work has to go into these changes it could be impossible to revert back to the old system for a while.
PlayStation voice recording?
This all comes on the back of the voice chat reporting fiasco.
The 8.00 firmware update gave PS4 players a pop-up that voice chat could be recorded and reported for moderation. This is to do with the PS5's DualSense controller, which will record your voice chat to be used as evidence should a user want to report abuse.
click to enlarge + 3It has worried gamers that Sony will be listening in to their party chats. It's another thing Sony had to address, clarifying that they aren't actively monitoring what people say.
With a month to go until the PS5's global release, it hasn't been the home stretch Sony will have wanted.
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