Sony opening invites to gamers to beta test next major PS5 update, its first ever public beta testing program

Sony is prepping for what looks like a major update for its hugely popular Playstation 5 game console. The Japan tech giant has issued an invite for its first ever beta testing program although it is only available to gamers in the the United States, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, France and Germany. This is an approach that Microsoft has long adopted with its Xbox OS releases and is also used more widely with other companies as it helps ensure a smoother release on launch.

To date, Sony has offered a series of smaller updates for the PS5 since its launch. Most have offered stability and bug fixes although the April update pushed promised support for external storage drives along with UI tweaks and social features. A key update that many PS5 owners are hoping to see is the activation of support for the additional M.2 SSD storage bay tucked within the console. This should offer transfer speeds similar to the built-in system SSD.

Sony advises would-be participants that not all applicants will necessarily be invited to join the program. Successful applicants, however, are expected to provide feedback along with ideas, although these will become the property of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Another potential downside is that all beta software can cause system instability, so only sign-up if you don’t mind living on the edge a little. But if you do, you will be among the first to try out features that will go live in the ‘next major system update later this year’.