PS5 operating system sounds like a dream – and a nightmare for Xbox Series X

Now that the Xbox Series X has been officially revealed and the PS5’s specs have been released, we know a lot about the next-gen consoles. We know both are going to support up to 8K gaming (although Xbox might be ahead of Sony’s offering in the graphics department) and both will use solid state drives to load games in a fraction of a second. 

One thing we don’t know is what the operating system for either console is going to look like, but new PS5 patents published by the United States Patent Office give us a clear indication as to how the console’s OS will operate.  

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The patent, described as “a method for launching interactive content” is a way for the operating system to launch more than one activity straight away. To put it another way, rather than boot up a game, quit it and load up another one, you’ll be able to have multiple games loaded and ready to jump into almost instantaneously.

This lines up with previous comments from Sony’s lead systems architect Mark Cerny. In a 2019 Wired interview on the inner workings of the PS5, Cerny stated:

“We don't want the player to have to boot the game, see what's up, boot the game, see what's up. Multiplayer game servers will provide the console with the set of joinable activities in real time. 

“Single player games will provide information like what missions you could do and what rewards you might receive for completing them – and all of those choices will be visible in the UI.”

Reported by PushSquare, you might even be able to select multiple options for each game direct from the main menu. If you’re putting in the hours on Skyrim only to have a friend come over, you can come out of the single player game and jump into a two-person match in FIFA straight away, without taking the time to quit or load up either game. It’s all instantaneous. 

Sounds cool, right? Such an operating system would put the PS5 in direct competition with Xbox Series X, which showed off a similar "Quick Resume" system when its specs were first unveiled earlier this year. Whichever system you choose when the next-generation consoles launch, the way you game will change from the moment the console boots up.

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