Since the PS5 launched in November 2020, gamers around the world have been trying to get their hands on one.
But, for those that did manage to grab a new PlayStation 5, the console's first major update is about to release.
Here is everything you need to know.
The PS5's First Update
In a blog post, Sony announced that the PlayStation 5 will be getting its first major update tomorrow, April 14th, which will add many features including;
- Ability to use external hard drives
- New social features
- Control and personalization options
- New PlayStation App features
PS5 Storage Expansion and Management
With the upcoming update, players will now be able to store their PS5 games on compatible external USB drives.
Unfortunately, the games can't be played from the external drive, instead, they need to be transferred to the console due to it using the console's NVME drive.
But, according to Sony, it will be faster to transfer a game from an external drive than reinstall via download or disk.
For tips on using USB extended storage on PS5, including storage device requirements, please visit: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5-extended-storage/.
As previously announced, the PS5 console will support storage expansion via M.2 drives in the future.
New Social Features for PS4 and PS5 Consoles
- Cross-generation Share Play. PS4 and PS5 players can now Share Play together while chatting in parties. This means PS5 console users can let their friends on PS4 consoles view their game screen, or even try out the PS5 games through Share Play, and vice versa. Options include the ability to share your screen with a friend, pass your controller virtually to a friend, or pass a second controller virtually to play co-op games together.
- Request to Join Game Session. A selection of your friends’ joinable game sessions will now appear on both PS5 and PS4 consoles, allowing for more gameplay opportunities together. The “Request to Join” option also serves as a shortcut to sending a game invite, reducing the time it takes for you to get into games with friends. Through the Privacy Settings menu, you can modify who can interact with you through parties, games and messages.
Enhanced Control and Personalization Options for PS5 Consoles
- Improved Game Base. The Game Base menu has been improved for quicker access to important content and features. You can now easily switch between Parties and Friends to start chatting with your existing parties or see what each of your online friends is up to. In addition, you can turn notifications on or off for each of the parties you’re in.
- Disable Game Chat or Adjust Players’ Volume. You can now quickly disable in-game chat, which turns off your mic audio and the voice audio of other players. Additionally, you can easily adjust the individual voice chat volume of other players in the same chat so you don’t have to ask your friends to lower or increase their mic volume each time.
- Game Update Pre-download. Once it’s enabled by developers, title updates for games will pre-download to your console if the “automatic updates” setting is enabled and your console is on or in rest mode. This will let you start playing the latest version of a game immediately after the update’s release.
- Customize Game Library. With the ability to search your library or hide games from view, it’s now easier to find content and personalize your view of your game library.
- Screen Zoom. You can now adjust the magnification of the screen to suit your preference from the Settings menu.
- New Trophy Settings and Stats Screen. The level of trophies that results in automatic capture of a screenshot or video clip can now be customized — so you can now choose to only capture and save images/videos of moments when you earn higher-grade trophies, like Gold or Platinum. We’re also introducing a new player Trophy Stats screen, where you can check out the summary of your trophy level and status at a glance.
New Features for PlayStation App
The PlayStation App will see a bit of an overhaul in this update too.
Players will soon be able to save games and other products into their wishlist, get notifications when friends are online, as well as being able to manage storage, compare trophy collections and more.
