The PlayStation 5 accolades feature is shutting down this fall, which makes sense because no one used it. Basically, it tried to encourage good behavior in the PlayStation 5 community by allowing players to anonymously give each other accolades. It was a noble idea, but there was no carrot tied to the system, which meant that Accolades boiled down to patting each other on the back and saying "good job for not being a jerk." Although the Accolades feature was a nice idea, it was also one that was doomed to fail from the start.
Why was the PlayStation 5 accolades feature doomed to fail?
No one knew about it. It's one thing to design a feature, but for it to be useful it needs to be advertised. It wasn't. At most, users barely remembered the system existed, and many didn't even know it existed at all. Plus, was such a system even needed in the first place? According to the PlayStation 5 community, the answer to that question is a resounding "no".
Here's the official shutdown notice:
In fall of 2022, the Accolades feature on PlayStation 5 will no longer be supported. The feature hasn’t seen the level of usage we anticipated, so we are refocusing our efforts. We encourage the community to continue to send positive messages to one another.
Will the PlayStation 5 Accolades system ever make a return?
A potential replacement for Accolades is PlayStation Stars, a new loyalty program coming later this year. It'll give players reward points for completing activities which can then be spent on rewards such as PSN wallet funds or "selected PlayStation Store products". That sounds a lot more enticing than the Accolades system, but we'll have to see whether it contains any player-to-player incentives when it goes live.
Other notable updates recently include the 2.0 beta update, which sees the PlayStation 5 finally receive 1440p support. Refresh rates of up to 120Hz are supported, which is very nice for users like me who have an older HDMI 2.0 monitor that they don't want to upgrade just yet. Other additions include a 'Your Collections' tab to better organize games and a new tab on the main Game Hub window that serves as an easier way to check your in-progress activities.
It's good that Sony continues updating its console and making the overall experience better, because Microsoft's aggressive moves this generation aren't going to stop anytime soon. Nintendo marches to its own beat, and the battle for supremacy for the rest of the console market continues with Sony and Microsoft.
For more information on PlayStation 5 accolades, other features, and all things PlayStation, stay tuned to TechRaptor.
