Gaming | Gaming: The first “major” update of the PS5 is available

Sony is doing a major software update for the PS5 for the first time. It brings new storage, other social features and better control and customization options.

By Patrick Latramolier

To the delight of PS5 owners, despite the long wait, a recognizable and defining update has finally been released. From now on, it will be possible to store your PS5 games on compatible external USB drives. This is because PS5 games can be transferred from the console’s internal storage to a USB device. This significantly expands the capabilities of PS5 consoles. Therefore reinstalling PS5 games from USB extended storage is much easier and more efficient than re-downloading or copying from disk.

Sony has collaborated for new social features between the PS4 and PS5 consoles. True, it is now possible for all subsequent players to take advantage of the “Share Play” option from Party Chat. This offers PS5 owners a number of benefits, including being able to show their gaming screen to their friends on the PS4. But, the possibility of testing a PS5 game, solo or co-op with a friend on a PS4 console is the opposite.

In this update 21.01, Sony is also adding some aesthetic improvements, especially with better control and customization options. There is a redesign of the game base menu, players can switch from one party or another discussion and enable or disable notifications on each of them; Ability to turn off game chat or adjust player volume, ie, each player volume can be adjusted individually; Pre-download game updates, when the console is on or idle, if enabled by Game Developers and the “Automatic Updates” setting is enabled; Personalize your game library with the ability to hide games, customize the library display, and search; Zoom on the screen, i.e., access to adjust the zoom magnification level from the “Parameters” menu; And the parameters of new trophies that have the potential to activate an automatic capture of an image or video, for example, the arrival of a new trophy when receiving a rare trophy.

Finally, a wide range of new features have been added to the PlayStation app. The idea is to facilitate remote interactions with the console. Of these, it is now possible to save products to wishlist, receive notifications while friends are online, and change the console’s online status. Sony has announced the arrival of new features in the app in the coming weeks. More precisely, we can join the multiplayer session on the PS5 from the application, manage the storage of your PS5 console, compare your collection of trophies with those of your friends and sort and filter products from the PlayStation Store.