Summary
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The PlayStation 5 “Welcome Hub” added a number of customizable features, including movable information widgets.
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It grew out of a Sony-led hackathon with a small team that, according to a Sony vice president, had “a passion for this area.”
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The vice president also shared that PS5 users are split 50% between rest mode and turning off their console completely.
In the middle of last year, Sony introduced a major update to the PlayStation 5's user interface via the “Welcome Hub”. The update allows users to customize a hub with a range of movable widgets to enhance their gaming experience. Although there were a few problems at the start, it was largely welcomed for its numerous helpful additions.
Via the “Welcome Hub”, users can see, among other things, how many trophies they have earned, how long their devices have battery life, or how much console storage space they have left.
As it turns out, the update came from a PlayStation-centric “hackathon.” In an interview with Game File (paid), Sony's Cory Gasaway, vice president of product, gaming and player experiences, explained how the Welcome Hub came to be.
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“The 'Welcome Hub' grew out of a hackathon project designed by a small team passionate about this area,” he shared. “We all loved the idea and supported making this project special – what is now the landing page that millions of gamers around the world see when they launch their console.”
Ultimately, the goal was to give each type of player the ability to customize their experience as they see fit. For example, trophy hunters can see their progress, while multiplayer enthusiasts can see which of their friends are online.
Other notable trends
According to Gasaway, the most commonly used widgets are: “Battery, Storage and Online Friends.” This isn't too surprising considering they provide important information in an easy-to-understand format.
Elsewhere, Gasaway shared that despite an “internal hypothesis” suggesting that more gamers are putting their consoles to sleep rather than shutting them down completely, this is not actually the case. “It turns out the two options were actually about 50/50 between all of our players,” he added.
As for future widgets and updates, Gasaway had nothing to share. However, he noted that the ability to decouple some areas has allowed PlayStation to provide “faster and more flexible releases.” In other words, it probably won't be long before the next evolution of the PS5 UI comes.
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