While outwardly everything appears to be business as usual at Sony HQ, the company is no doubt up against it behind the scenes right now.
Similarly to Microsoft, the Japanese tech giant is currently all hands on deck in the run-up to launch of its next-gen console, which is now little more than a mere few weeks away. Besides overseeing manufacturing of the PlayStation 5 itself, Sony is having to juggle various backend upgrades to the PlayStation ecosystem’s firmware, many of which have started rolling out over the last few days or so. One of these has made several notable changes to how the PS Store functions, and not necessarily for the better, either.
Whether the tweaks were intentional or not, we’re currently not sure, but fans have discovered that downloading or browsing owned games for older systems such as the PS3 or the PSP/Vita is no longer possible, inevitably causing untold frustration for those with extensive back catalogs. With backwards compatibility establishing itself as a key selling point for next-gen, Sony’s apparent lack of foresight in accommodating older games is concerning, no doubt.
We’ll just have to wait and see how that situation unfolds, then, but in the meantime, fans at least have a neat freebie to enjoy. Twitter user Renka notes that the latest firmware update rolled out for PS4 has added a little gift for all PlayStation owners in the form of new avatar images for folks to choose from, of which there are 72 in total. Popular titles such as Bloodborne, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last Guardian, God of War and The Last of Us Part II can now be repped directly via your profile without having to spend a penny.
Given the timing, one can only assume all the new additions have been delivered in celebration of PlayStation 5‘s impending release next month, November 12th. In any case, let us know which of the new avatars you’ll be adopting in the usual place down below!