PS5 gets first major update that allows games to be stored on USB drives

Storage space is going to be less of a concern for PS5 owners, especially for fans of graphically-demanding and performance-intensive games.

According to the PlayStation Blog, Sony's next-gen console will be rolling out its first major software update in all regions tomorrow on April 14, 2021, which is set to carry new storage options and social features in tow.

For starters, accessing the game's thumbnail from the home menu via the options button will bring up the option to transfer PS5 games to select external USB drives from the internal SSD, or the vice versa.

The titles cannot be played directly from the USB system, but doing so would provide users with a temporary space-saving measure that lets them remove and add content from the drive much faster than downloading it from scratch.

Storage expansion via M.2 drives, meanwhile, is expected to come sometime in the future.

On the social side of things, the PS5 is ushering in several new additions, including cross-generation Share Play, a 'Request to Join' option, Game Base menu improvements, and the pre-download of game updates.

More details of these features are explained as follows:

• Cross-generation Share Play: PS4 and PS5 players can now Share Play together while chatting in parties. This means PS5 console users can let their friends on PS4 consoles view their game screen, or even try out the PS5 games through Share Play, and vice versa. Options include the ability to share your screen with a friend, pass your controller virtually to a friend, or pass a second controller virtually to play co-op games together.
• Request to Join Game Session: A selection of your friends' joinable game sessions will now appear on both PS5 and PS4 consoles, allowing for more gameplay opportunities together. The "Request to Join" option also serves as a shortcut to sending a game invite, reducing the time it takes for you to get into games with friends. Through the Privacy Settings menu, you can modify who can interact with you through parties, games and messages.
• Improved Game Base: The Game Base menu has been improved for quicker access to important content and features. You can now easily switch between Parties and Friends to start chatting with your existing parties or see what each of your online friends is up to. In addition, you can turn notifications on or off for each of the parties you're in.
• Game Update Pre-download: Once it's enabled by developers, title updates for games will pre-download to your console if the "automatic updates" setting is enabled and your console is on or in rest mode. This will let you start playing the latest version of a game immediately after the update's release.

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Accompanying the above list are other quality-of-life changes that allow players to disable game chat or adjust the volume of other players, personalise their game library, adjust their screen magnification, and customise whether images and videos are taken when obtaining trophies of a certain system.

The PlayStation App on phone has been updated for a more user-friendly console experience as well.

The storage expansion option is a nice little addition, considering how PS5 games and updates are being subjected to a bigger, more bloated file size.

As more titles get released on the console, the extra space is likely to come in handy at some point or another - it's 'the more, the better' with gaming, after all.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.