PS5 System Update 24.02-09.00.00 is live now with louder DualSense speakers & more

Sony has announced that the slimmer variant of the PlayStation 5 console, which first launched in the US in November last year, will be available in India, starting April 5. Both the disc and digital editions of PS5 slim will go on sale in the country this week, with stock availability at participating retailers confirmed. PS5 slim, a lighter and thinner version of the original console, retains much of the PlayStation 5 design language, but comes with a detachable disc drive and slightly bigger storage.

PS5 Pro specs have been the subject of numerous leaks over recent months, and the last couple of weeks in particular have shed a great deal of light on alleged details on the rumoured mid-gen console refresh. But with supposed enhancements like its proprietary supersampling tech dubbed PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling (or PSSR), 45 percent faster rendering, and more, how exactly is Sony hoping developers will take advantage of the console’s more powerful hardware?

Sony hasn’t really missed a beat in its transition from the PS4 to the PS5 where hardware sales are concerned, with the company’s current-gen console consistently selling solid numbers, and though it’s highly unlikely that it will manage to beat the PS2’s lifetime sales total of 160 million units, outgoing PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan says that the PS5 is still very much on track to become the company’s “most successful console ever” by other metrics.

Rumors are running rampant about a supposed PlayStation 5 Pro, or PS5 Pro for short. Just like we got a mid-generation upgrade with the PS4 Pro last console cycle, many are expecting PlayStation to release an incrementally more powerful machine the bridge the gap between the launch unit and an eventual PlayStation 6. Leaks have been coming out from some fairly credible sources with a lot of juicy and very specific details about what a hypothetical PS5 Pro could look like. As credible as these sources may be, we do still need to take everything we see with a grain of salt until Sony officially confirms this system even exists. Until then, here are all the rumors out there we could pull together regarding the PS5 Pro.

A future PS5 update has been revealed, in which the 'Game Help' section of the system's interface will be significantly expanded upon. The new 'Community Game Help' is exactly what it sounds like: players will be able to reference gameplay clips from other users when they're stuck on a certain in-game objectives, challenges, or Trophies.

There's been a lot of chatter about this Stellar Blade demo recently. First, it was released accidentally, and although Sony took it back down pretty quickly, it wasn't fast enough to stop a few people playing and sharing footage online. So, we knew a demo was coming, and it wasn't much later that we got official confirmation. Now, the time has come: it's available to download and play right now on PS5. Those in the US can click here, and it's here for UK readers.

Shift Up’s demo for Stellar Blade, its upcoming hack-and-slash action RPG, is now available for PS5 players after accidentally going live earlier this month. Featuring the opening section, it sees players controlling Eve as she battles the Naytiba. The demo is roughly an hour long and outlines the basics of combat while featuring the first boss fight.

Remember IllFonic’s asymmetrical multiplayer title based on a popular movie franchise? No, not Friday the 13th: The Game or Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, but Predator: Hunting Grounds. Published by Sony for PS4 and PC, it’s coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in late 2024, with IllFonic taking over publishing duties.

Recently on the GI Microcast, GamesIndustry.biz founder Christopher Dring discussed falling sales for Xbox in Europe and how the “majority” of its titles would come to PlayStation 5 at some point. During GDC 2024, he also spoke to different developers about the rumored PS5 Pro, whose specs recently leaked. The verdict? “I didn’t meet a single person that understood the point of it.”

The PS5 is set to get an intriguing new update in the form of Community Game Help, which is a way for players to share their own gameplay footage and hints to the PS5 community. This new feature for the PS5 will give participating players the chance to help fellow gamers in a new and unique way.

A recently published patent has revealed a Sony software system that would help to simplify dialogue to ensure players skipping through long lines of text do not miss out on key quest or story details. A number of Sony software patents to aid users have been made public in recent months, highlighting the research and development efforts of the technology giant.

The Explore page on the PS5 home screen appears to be running a beta that adds new features like backgrounds, friend activities, your controller's battery life, and easy links to console storage. Mystic, a popular PlayStation YouTuber, posted a new video today detailing the additions, which appear to have only rolled out to select PS5 users. You can see what's new in the video above.