PS5 Update Brings Back Retro Themes And Adds Some New Features

Late last year, Sony added a couple of nostalgic PlayStation 5 dashboard themes the recreated the experience of using an older PlayStation console. People really liked these themes, but Sony said they were temporary and eventually they were all removed. But now they’re coming back for good.

2024 was the 30th anniversary of the original PlayStation. In December, as part of that celebration, an update for PS5 added a really cool PS1-style boot up animation. And if you checked out the PS5’s settings you could find dashboard themes for the console that emulated some past PlayStation consoles, like the PS2 and PS3. People really liked these, but Sony removed them a few weeks later. Starting tomorrow, however, these previously temporary themes will return as part of a bigger PS5 update.

On April 23, Sony announced that the next big update for PS5 will bring back all the retro PlayStation themes from last year. In January, Sony promised players it would bring the themes back “in the coming months,” and that time has come.

The PS5 update arrives tomorrow, on April 24. Sadly, it doesn’t look like the PS1 intro is coming back.

It’s not just returning themes included in tomorrow’s update. Sony has also revealed a whole suite of new sound options as part of a new “Sound Focus” feature that lets you control which types of noise you’ll hear better while playing a game. For example, you can boost voices or footstep audio so you can hear them better while playing a game. Sony says this will be optional and only supports headsets.

Here are the presets you can tinker with when tomorrow’s update goes live:

• Boost Low Pitch: Amplify low-frequency sounds like roaring engines and rumbling noises.
• Boost Voices: Amplify voice chats, character voices, and other middle-frequency sounds.

• Boost High Pitch: Amplify high-frequency sounds like footsteps and metallic noises.
• Boost Quiet Sounds: Amplify low-volume sounds in a wide range of frequencies.