Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation 5 has been met with a wave of user frustration after a recent update introduced a new advertising system that many find intrusive and overwhelming. The new feature, which replaces game icons on the homepage with promotional content and ads, has generated a significant backlash among PS5 users.
Initially, many users dismissed the new ads as isolated glitches, but they have become a consistent feature. Now, when hovering over a game icon, users are presented with a promotional video or advertisement related to the game instead of the familiar game art. These ads range from YouTube videos and patch notes to announcements for unrelated games, creating confusion and frustration.
The issue has sparked significant online discussion, with many users expressing their dissatisfaction. One redditor, mikelman999, stated, “There definitely should be a way to disable this. I get its usefulness in modern games that are still getting updated, but since it just displays the newest ‘news’ item, it’s a lot more problematic with older titles. It just ends up covering your screen with irrelevant information that’s potentially a decade out of date.”
Adding to the frustration, the ads are unavoidable without disconnecting from the internet, and many users are finding them disruptive to their gaming experience. They complain that the ads often promote outdated content or even entirely different games. For example, users of Horizon Zero Dawn have found their game icon replaced with an advertisement for the upcoming Lego Horizon Adventures, leading to confusion for those unaware of the new title’s release status. Similarly, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales users have seen their icon replaced with an ad for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was released in June 2023. Another glaring issue is the continued advertisement for NBA 2K25’s early access feature, which is now nearly a month old.
The PlayStation dashboard has long featured ads, typically confined to the PlayStation Store. However, this new homepage integration represents a significant departure from the norm and has drawn heavy criticism from users. While Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox dashboard also includes ads, users point out that Xbox supports themes that take precedence over the background, allowing for more customization—a feature the PS5 lacks.
As the backlash continues, it remains to be seen how Sony will respond to the growing user dissatisfaction with the new ad system. Many users are hoping that Sony will introduce a way to disable the ads, or at least provide more control over their appearance and frequency. For now, the new advertising system is causing frustration and discontent within the PlayStation community, highlighting the delicate balance between monetization and user experience in the gaming industry.
