The latest PlayStation 4 update is being released in beta for the lucky few who signed up to try it out. According to patch notes obtained by MP1st, Sony will remove PlayStation Communities from the console, as well as make some other improvements in quality of life.
The 8.50 update for the PS4 Beta is also known as the System Software Beta Testing Spring 2021 update. As well as removing communities, the update makes changes to group notifications, joining game sessions, and the visibility of hidden games. You can check the complete patch notes below:
PS4 firmware update 8.50 Beta patch notes
Key features of this Beta system software
- In messages, you can now enable / disable notifications for each of the groups you are in. On the group screen, open the options menu and select “Disable notifications”.
Other update features
- On the game session screen, you can now use the “Request to join” button to ask the session leader to join the game. The session leader can send you an invitation to join the game session.
- When playing a game that you have hidden, other players will no longer see you play.
- Communities are no longer available.
The writing was on the wall for PlayStation Communities, as the companion app, previously available for Android and iOS, ended in March 2020. Although no reason was given for the closure, it was assumed that it was due to a reduced number of users, and all PlayStation apps were later combined in one place at the launch of the PS5. Until recently, Communities seemed to be still quite active on the PS4 console itself, but the number of people using them has probably dropped since the launch of the PlayStation 5. Sony’s latest console currently doesn’t have the Communities feature, and with this change, it is not expected to continue on the next generation console.
The last major update of the system software for the PlayStation 4 was the 8.00 update, which introduced new avatars, simplified the party and the messages (which is still a controversial change that Sony is investigating), increased the verification in two steps and made the easiest to use parental controls. among other improvements. It will take a while for the last round of changes to be implemented for the wider community, but we will let you know as soon as the 8.50 update is released in general.
[Source: MP1st]