PS5 System Software Beta Starts Today, Adds Open Parties and Voice Commands

Sony has announced a new system software beta going live for the PS5 today which adds a number of new features. One of these is Open Parties, which will also be available to PS4 players. Voice commands are also being added for media playback, searching and opening games (though it’s limited to the US and UK for now).

Open Parties, as the name indicates, allow for friends and their respective friends to join without any invite. You can toggle this to be a Closed Party which requires an invite to join. Voice chat reporting has also been updated on PS5 with visual indicators being added to better identify the speaker.

Other new features include starting Share Play from the voice chat card directly; adjusting voice chat volume for each individual player on PS4; being able to filter games in your collection based on genre; and much more. The final system software updates will go live later this year so stay tuned for more information.

New Party Chat Options

Open and Closed Parties (PS5 and PS4 betas)

• When you start a party, you can now select either an open party or a closed party:
• An open party lets your friends see and join the party without an invite. Friends of party members can also join.
• A closed party is only for players you invite.
• Note: in Game Base on PS5 and Party on PS4, if you select [Open Party] when starting a party, only players using the beta version of the PS5 or PS4 system software will be able to join. To start a party that players who aren’t using the beta version can also join, select [Closed Party].

Voice chat reporting feature update (PS5 beta)

• If you want to report something that someone in a party said, there are now visual indicators for you to identify who was speaking. This will help PlayStation Safety take appropriate action based on your report.

Share Play update (PS5 beta)

• Start Share Play directly from the voice chat card. You no longer need to start Share Screen first to use Share Play.

Voice chat volume (PS4 beta)

• You can now individually adjust the voice chat volume of each player in a party on PS4, just like on PS5.

PS5 Game Base Enhancements

• Voice chats are now called parties. For easier access, we’ve divided the Game Base menu into three tabs: Friends, Parties and Messages.
• From the Game Base control menu and cards, you can now:
  – View all your friends under the [Friends] tab in the control menu, or access the player search feature and friend requests through links on this tab.
  – Add a player to a group or create a new group directly from Game Base in the Control Center. You can also send text messages, quick messages, images, video clips, and view a group’s shared media from this card.
• When someone in a party is sharing their screen, you’ll now see the (on air) icon.
• We’ve made it easier to decline friend requests by adding a [Decline] button to your friend request list.

New PS5 UI Features

Filter by genre

• We’ve added an option to filter your game collection by genre, letting you quickly find specific types of game experiences.

Keep in Home

• You can now keep the games or apps you choose on your home screen by selecting “Keep in Home” with the (options) button.
• You can keep a maximum of five games and apps on each home screen with this feature.