Oliver Haslam on October 16, 2020, 12:40 am

Sony Gives Us Our First Look At The PS5 User Interface

Sony today gave us our first look at the new interface we will all be using when the PS5 arrives next month. It’s quite the departure from the interface we’ve become accustomed to across PS3 and PS4, that’s for sure.

There are, however, some similarities as The Verge points out after taking the full, surprisingly long video in.

The new UI is a big change for Sony, offering a complete overhaul of the rather spartan menus that the PlayStation 4 offered. Similar to the PlayStation 4, Sony will offer a row of installed or available games (or streaming apps, in a separate tab) that shows off the various games, each with its own hub.

There are new activities and game modes that can be selected directly from the Home screen, assuming the game in particular supports it all. Interestingly, Sony does say that some PS4 games will get this treatment as well.

The biggest change is probably the Control Center menu, accessed by pressing the PlayStation button in the center of the PS5’s controller.

There’s a new “Control Center” menu, accessed at any time by pressing the PlayStation button, which gives players access to a wide array of system tools, like seeing notifications, which friends are online, controlling music, managing settings for the console and controller, and seeing the status of downloads. There’s also a new series of cards, a key part of the user interface that serves as a sort of ongoing feed of news about games, recent achievements or screenshots, and more.

There is also a mechanism for “Game Help” that will give PS Plus subscribers hints when they need them. There are also changes to the PS5’s party system, allowing gamers to share their screens with other party members if they so wish.

The full video is definitely worth a watch if you’re interested in seeing how PS5 will actually work when it lands in stores next month. The whole thing moves quickly as well, suggesting none of the PS4’s jitters and stutters will be making the migration to the new console.