New PlayStation 5 Beta Adds Extra Party Chat Options, Game Base Enhancements, UI Changes, And More

A new PlayStation 5 beta has been revealed and it brings new options to things like party chat, game base, the console’s user interface, and more. 

This beta, which kicks off today for those who have signed up for PlayStation’s beta program, is the PS5’s second and it’s only available to those in the U.S. and U.K. Of course, since this is just a beta, it doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of the world will see these options. Considering the test-like nature of this beta program, there’s the possibility that participants don’t like everything they see, which might cause PlayStation to change some things up. Only time will tell for now, though. 

In the meantime, here’s what you can expect in this new PS5 beta: 

New Party Chat Options

• Open and Closed Parties (PS5 and PS4 betas)
• Voice chat reporting feature update: If you want to report something someone in your party said, new indicators have been added to make identifying who said it easier. 
• Share Play update: You can start Share Play directly from the voice chat card. 
• Voice chat volume (PS4 beta): You can now individually adjust the voice chat volume of individuals in your party.

PS5 Game Base Enhancements

• Voice chats have been renamed to “parties” and now Game Base has been divided into three tabs: Friends, Parties, and Messages. 
• From the Game Base menu, you can now view all of your friends under the Friends tab in the control menu and you can now add a player to a group or create a new group directly from Game Base in the PS5 Control Center. 
• When someone in a party is sharing their screen, you’ll now see a special “On Air” icon.
• It’s now easier to decline friend requests because a new “Decline” button has been added. 

New PS5 UI Features

• You can now filter your game collection by genre.
• You can now keep games or apps of your choosing on the Home screen by choosing the “Keep in Home” option via the Options button. 
• A total of five games and apps can be kept on the home screen using this new feature. 
• You can now have a total of 14 games and apps on your home screen. 
• The visual design of trophy cards and the trophy list have been updated.
• From the Create menu, you can now start a Share Screen and stream your gameplay to an open party. 

New Accessibility Features

• More Screen Reader languages have been added.
• Mono audio is now available for headphones.
• Check marks have been added for enabled settings. 

Voice Command (Preview)

• PlayStation is testing a new feature that enables voice commands for finding and opening games, apps, and settings, as well as controlling media playback on the PS5 console. 

And that’s everything you can expect in this beta if you’re participating in it. 

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Are you excited about any of these features? Let us know in the comments below!