Almost six months have passed from PlayStation 5 released, and today Sony announces the first major software update for its flagship game console.
Sony a blog posted today detailed some of the new features and enhancements that will come in the April update of the PS5, which will begin rolling out worldwide tomorrow.
For those who feel limited by the 667GB of PS5’s base storage, one of the most important new enhancements is the ability to store PS5 games on an external USB drive, a feature that was previously limited to older PS4 titles.
Unfortunately, you still can’t run PS5 games out of external storage because Sony said the external drives are not fast enough to offer optimal performance, which means that this new feature is designed exclusively to help you clutter up the PS5’s built-in SSD. (Note: The first time you download a PS5 game, it must still be stored on the PS5’s base SSD before you can transfer the game to an external drive.)
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The real problem is that while Sony said before the launch that PS5 owners could upgrade their consoles with more storage using a second m.2 SSD, the company said is still working on implementing this feature and there are no schedules for when it will be available.
On the plus side, for PS5 owners who play with friends using a PS4, Sony has enabled cross-generation Share Play, which means PS5 owners can stream their game to friends with old consoles or even all play PS5 demos (or PS4 demos in this case) on either of the two latest generations of PlayStation consoles.
Sony has also added additional control and customization options to the PS5’s Game Base menu, which should make it easy to create parties, switch between multiple chats, or turn off notifications if you’re in a room that causes a lot of junk notification activity.
The update also includes a series of small adjustments, such as the ability to set up your PS5 to download automatic updates in advance (assuming the developer has this setting turned on), turn off game chat completely, or adjust the volume of a specific player and improve your library’s search. games with the option to hide specific titles if you want. There’s even a new trophy settings and statistics screen where you can more easily see the progress of trophies at a glance and specify what types of trophies (gold / platinum) trigger screenshots or game recordings automatic.
Finally, Sony also updates the PlayStation app on mobile devices, allowing you to see more easily when your friends are online, make wish lists for the games you want to buy, or set the online status of your PS5 remotely. And in the “coming weeks,” Sony says it will add the ability to join multiplayer games, manage the storage of your PS5, compare trophies and more, all from the PlayStation app.