PS5 Drops Surprise System Overhaul But It's Already Proving Controversial

It’s rumoured that Sony may be preparing to unveil the PlayStation 6 next year, but that certainly doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road for the PlayStation 5.

Developers are hard at work refining the console’s usability with a new home page user interface seemingly on the precipice of rolling out.

Reddit user FSTGang was the first to sound the alarm, revealing that the new UI had been shadowdropped onto their console.

The new UI still features the PlayStation 5’s familiar game tiles, but icons leading users to their game library, linked devices, the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Plus hub, and more now appear to be permanently fixed in a new bar at the top of the screen.

This will surely make navigating PlayStation 5 consoles much easier as previously, for example, users had to scroll along the tiles all the way to the right hand side to access their full library; this change should shorten and streamline navigation.

FSTGang confirmed they are a member of PlayStation’s beta testing programme which perhaps explains why this updated UI surfaced out of nowhere.

With that in mind, it likely won’t roll out to the general public for a number of weeks or months as developers finesse the updated UI following this round of testing.

To switch between the two rows featured on the new UI, players reportedly use L1 and R1.

PS5 Users Aren’t Impressed By The Updated Welcome Hub UI

Surprisingly, the updated UI is proving to be quite controversial despite massively improving usability.

It’s possible that many prefer sticking to what they know.

“I’m not sure I’m a fan of this change. I actually don’t mind it how it is,” remarked one Twitter/X user.

“I’m not a fan tbh, would prefer less icons on screen,” added another.

“Can we not do that? Lol, we are six years in. Just leave it alone and fix it for the PS6,” read one comment.

Of course, there are some users who seem pleased about the potential impending change.

What PlayStation 5 users are really craving is the reintroduction of themes which were arguably the best aspect of the PlayStation 4’s UI.

READ MORE: Don’t miss this hidden DualSense feature PS5 users have been overlooking for years.

In recent years, Sony has introduced dynamic backgrounds on PlayStation 5, allowing users to showcase their favourite games or screenshots. It’s not quite the same though.

At this stage, it’s possible that Sony may be holding back themes for the PlayStation 6 in order to give that console some extra pizazz.