Five years of PS5: what changed – and how players actually used it

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Sony’s official blog marks PS5’s fifth anniversary with a clean look at what changed since launch – focusing on system updates, social features, and how players actually use them. The recap avoids hardware fanfare and zeroes in on software capabilities and community metrics. Across five years, PS5 introduced new sharing tools, expanded online services, refined visual tech, and rolled out quality‑of‑life updates. Below is the verified, year‑by‑year breakdown, plus the cumulative numbers as of September 2025.

2020 – Launch features that shaped early play

The platform’s debut year introduced sharing and accessibility tools that quickly became part of everyday play. Sony’s data highlights strong uptake and sustained usage.

• Share Screen arrived on PS5 (later on PS App) and has been used more than 1.6 billion times, totaling over 900 million hours. Most shared: Fortnite, Roblox, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Grand Theft Auto V.
• Accessibility features launched at 11 and have grown to 20 by 2025 – including Accessibility Tags and Second Controller for Assistance. One out of every four PS5 users enabled at least one feature.

2021 – Social play and storage flexibility

As the install base grew, Sony expanded cross‑gen connectivity and capture sharing while opening up storage options through a system update.

• Cross‑generation Share Play let PS5 players with PlayStation Plus membership virtually pass the controller to friends on PS4. Since launch, Share Play has been used over 700 million times on PS5.
• M.2 SSD storage expansion was enabled via system software, giving players a standardized way to grow libraries.
• PS App capture sharing led to 5.6 billion uploads. Today, nearly half of PlayStation messages are sent from the app, with more than 1 billion voice chat sessions taking place via PS App.

2022 – Visual tuning and a reworked subscription

System features focused on smoother visuals and broader access to back catalogues through a revamped PlayStation Plus structure.

• VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) reduced visual artifacts for smoother output. Millions enabled the feature, and 96% of players with VRR‑compatible monitors use it regularly.
• PlayStation Plus introduced three tiers with a Game Catalog for Extra and Deluxe/Premium members and a Classic Catalog for Premium. Unique catalog players doubled; combined Game Catalog and Classic Catalog hours reached 14 billion.

2023 – Cross‑platform chat and cloud streaming

Beyond hardware launches, two service updates defined the year for PS5’s connected features.

• Discord voice chat on PS5 connected players across platforms. Since launch, more than 1 billion sessions have run on PS5, averaging 105 minutes per session.
• Cloud Streaming for PS5 games became available to PlayStation Plus Premium members, allowing streaming of supported PS5 digital titles from Game Catalog, Game Trials, and PS Store purchases on PS5.

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2024 – Community‑driven help and a customizable home

PS5 leaned into social knowledge and personalization, adding tools that surface timely tips and let players shape the home experience.

• Community Game Help launched with player‑contributed hint videos from opt‑in creators. It now spans hundreds of PS5 titles, with thousands of contributions.
• Welcome Hub introduced a personalized home screen with widgets and custom backgrounds. The battery widget is the most used, and personal gameplay screenshots are the top background choice.

2025 – By the numbers

Sony’s five‑year totals underscore the platform’s scale and where players spent time. The figures below are from internal data collected as of September 2025.

PS5 in 2025: headline stats

Most‑played PS5 titles by total playtime

• Multiplayer: Fortnite; Grand Theft Auto V; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
• Single‑player: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla; God of War Ragnarök; Hogwarts Legacy

Bottom line – why this matters

Across five years, PS5’s biggest shifts came from system‑level features – sharing, cross‑platform voice, streaming, accessibility, and visual tech like VRR. For players, the takeaway is simple: the platform’s core experience keeps widening without forcing a single playstyle. Whether you rely on Share Screen, dive into the PlayStation Plus catalogs, or stream via Cloud Streaming, the ecosystem’s most‑used tools are built into the OS and services you already have.