New PlayStation 5 update ‘improves system performance’

Sony Interactive Entertainment has released a new PlayStation 5 system software update.

The platform holder said PS5 software update version 21.02-04.03.00, which rolled on Wednesday, “improves system performance”.

Sony launched PS5’s second major system software update on September 15, introducing the ability to expand the console’s storage with an off-the-shelf M.2 SSD.

PS5’s September system update also added 3D audio support through TV speakers and a much-requested option to remove the notification icon after taking a screenshot, among other features.

Following its release, Sony said it still has a long list of features it wants to add to PS5’s backend via future system updates.

PlayStation’s platform experience SVP, Hideaki Nishino, claimed his team has a large list of “interesting, exciting, fantastic ideas” that it aims to bring to PS5, based partly on tracking how users behave on the console as well as PS4.

“We learned a lot through PS4 and continue to learn about how players are using the system and how games are behaving,” he told the PS Blog.

“We know what is most accepted and most popular; what features are not used. So, we had a gigantic list of things before PS5 launch that we wanted to do. Actually, we dreamed of doing everything.”

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Nishino added: “Did I digest the whole list? I don’t think so, yet. But, there are interesting, exciting, fantastic ideas on the list.

“At the same time, we launched PS5. So, we are receiving a bunch of feedback from the community through social networks or system telemetry, as well as the media, my family, my friends. We have tons of lists of the feedback.”

The exec claimed that community behaviour was at the core of how Sony decides to update PS5’s features, and that it had even dynamically made UX behaviour changes for small groups of users to compare how they’re used.

“As I said, when I look back at the list of things we need to do, there’s a lot,” he said. “There’s a lot the community is asking for as well. I want to say in the Japanese way, I’m diligently working on these lists and there will be more coming out in the future.

“I also want to say thank you to the community. We are not just whiteboarding our desired features. We work for customer needs. We really want to solve the problem in a delightful manner. That’s our core passion.”