The PS5 Activities features were created to help out the single-player community as a response to common complaints according to newly-discovered internal documents from Sony.
The newest gaming consoles are certainly more powerful than their predecessors, but an increase in raw computing power isn't the only improvement that gamers are enjoying. One of the new features added to the PlayStation ecosystem is "Activities" — a series of cards that can be pulled up simply by pushing the PlayStation button. This feed can track your achievements, but it can also be used in other interesting ways.
For example, the challenging remaster of Demon's Souls has nearly 200 tips videos baked into the game to help players get past some of the more challenging enemies. Spider-Man: Miles Morales, on the other hand, will allow players to simply teleport to gameplay activities through the PS5's Activities UI.
"We can change 'should I start playing' to 'which part should I start playing?'"
Now, a new report from Vice reveals why this system was created in the first place. A confidential 2019 presentation shared with the site began with a common refrain in the gaming world: "single-player is dying." Sony's own internal data, however, shows that that isn't true, concluding that "single player is thriving."
That presentation outlined several issues that Sony was hearing from its single-player gamers:
- An inability to dedicate enough time to play a game and, more importantly, a lack of knowledge on how long a gameplay activity will take
- The difficulty in discovering useful information in help videos on the Internet
- The challenge of talking about a game on social media without spoilers
- Coming back to a game after a long time and forgetting what they were doing
I've faced a fair few of these problems myself and I'm sure you have, too. That's exactly why the PS5 Activities features were created.
PS5 Activities Features Are Game-Changers — But Only If Developers Use Them
The PS5 Activities features give players a lot more power, allowing them to teleport around the game world in Spider-Man: Miles Morales or get tips without sifting through a five-minute dubstep introduction on YouTube. They can certainly be handy — but it's up to developers to actually use them.
It's only been a few weeks since the launch of the PS5, so we've just seen some of the most basic, straightforward applications of this new UI. Common usages will likely include the ability to fast travel easier or learn critical information and we may see some exciting developments in the future.
Essentially, the PS5 Activities features exist to make it easier to jump into a game and ultimately cut down on downtime, all done through a convenient menu built into the PlayStation 5's UI. What we've seen so far is just the start and the games of the future may very well use this tech in even more interesting ways.
Have you made use of the PS5 Activities features or do you prefer to take your time with playing games? What's your favorite game on the PS5 thus far? Let us know in the comments below!
