PS5 Update Adds New Features as GTA 6 and PSSR 2.0 Discussions Heat Up

There has been a lot of talk in the gaming community lately about Grand Theft Auto 6, PlayStation 5 Pro upscaling technology, and a new system upgrade.

There's a lot to talk about, from rumors regarding Sony's next-gen picture reconstruction to worries about physical versus digital releases.

The conversation about buying games in stores and online is still changing. Many players who used to favor physical copies have slowly moved to digital libraries. Some digital-first consumers still buy physical copies from time to time because they are cheaper or because they want to own something real.

The tendency has moved more and more toward digital over time, yet people still have quite different tastes. We often see players weigh the pros and cons of convenience and collectability, and this argument is still not settled.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the first games that might work with PSSR2.0 on the PlayStation5 Pro. There hasn't been any official word yet, but people have been talking about new games that should be able to run at high resolutions and frame rates with ray tracing turned on.

Sony has previously said that PSSR 2.0 will be out this year, and people are getting more and more excited about when it will be available in real games.

Resident Evil9, which comes out next month, is one of the most talked-about prospects for PSSR2.0 support. The official performance goals for the PlayStation 5 Pro are that it can run 4K60fps with ray tracing turned on and 120fps with ray tracing turned off. Based on official information, that high-frame-rate mode is said to average around 90fps.

It's vital to remember that the 4K output is upscaled, not native. No one has said for sure if the game uses PSSR, an internal Capcom upscaler, or something else. Resident Evil9 wouldn't be the first game to run at 4K60fps with ray tracing on PlayStation5 Pro, but PSSR2.0 support might make the image quality much better at such performance levels. Until Sony gives more information, study from sites like Digital Foundry will probably be the most important source for figuring out what technology is really being used.

Marathon is another name that comes up a lot in PSSR2.0 talks. Since this is a first-party Sony title set for this year, people naturally anticipate it to show off new features for the PlayStation5 Pro. Many people are anticipating that Marathon will show off PSSR2.0 in action early on, especially because it is the first big first-party launch of the year.

Some people think that Marathon's reported 5K internal rendering was downscaled to 4K, but just because it was downscaled doesn't mean that PSSR 2.0 was used. Its first-party status and timing are still the strongest points. There are also worries regarding future releases.

Many players want PSSR 2.0 to come out before other games they are looking forward to so that their first playthroughs will benefit from better graphics and performance instead of getting improvements months later.

Version 26.01-12.60 of the PlayStation 5 system software is now available from Sony. It does more than just make the console more stable. The update adds a number of social features that make the PlayStation app even more useful.

Players can now go straight from the Friends Activity widget in the Welcome Hub to the games that their friends are actively playing. There are also read receipts, which let users know when their messages have been read. In addition to these new features, Sony has made messaging screens easier to use and made the system more stable and faster.

This update isn't very big, but the timing is interesting because the next big system update beta is likely to be announced next month. There is some cautious hope that additional useful features may come later, but many are still keeping their expectations in check.

The story regarding Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of the most stunning.

Some reports indicate that the game might come released digitally initially, and then physical copies might not come available for weeks or even until 2027.

The game is planned to come out in November, so a delay like this would be a significant problem, especially for people who enjoy physical copies.

The main rationale for this alleged technique is to stop leaks from happening too soon. In the past, retail copies that got to players before the game was out caused a lot of spoilers. Rockstar might be able to keep tighter control over launch-day content with a digital-only release timeframe.

The change may not have much of an effect on people who already buy games digitally, but it could be annoying for collectors of physical games.

There are also claims that there will be an update on GTA6 around the middle of February. It's not obvious if this update has anything to do with the strategy for releasing the game in stores vs online or if it has to do with other game aspects, but people are getting excited.

There will be a lot going on in the next few months, including rumors about PSSR 2.0, important updates for the PlayStation 5 system, and unusual release plans for one of the most anticipated games of the decade. As always, formal confirmation will be important, but the talks themselves show how much excitement and interest there is in the present generation and what comes next.