Marvel’s Avengers was the best-selling game of September, a bright spot for Crystal Dynamics as it works to refine the post-launch experience. Other best-sellers for the month include Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/01/marvels-avengers-kate-bishop-reveal-trailer"] Just today, Crystal Dynamics announced it will delay the Kate Bishop DLC and next-gen upgrades for Marvel’s Avengers as it works on additional fixes. However, Marvel’s Avengers seems to have had a successful launch, becoming the second best-selling superhero game in U.S. history after Insomniac’s Spider-Man. Super Mario 3D All-Stars was the second best-selling game in September and the 10th best-selling game of 2020. It generated the second-highest launch month for physical dollar sales of any 2020 release, behind only Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This was likely driven partially by the limited nature of the release, meant to celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvels-avengers-hero-challenge-cards-vendors-and-marketplace&captions=true"] Also on the top 10 sellers list is the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2, which has the best launch month dollar sales of any Tony Hawk game in the franchise; and Crusader Kings 3 which is the best-selling release in the franchise history. Crusader Kings 3 also has the highest launch month dollar sales of any game published by Paradox Interactive.

The best-selling games of September 2020

1. Marvel’s Avengers
2. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
3. Madden NFL 21
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
5. NBA 2K21*
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
7. Crusader Kings 3
8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
9. Star Wars: Squadrons
10. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
11. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
12. Ghost of Tsushima
13. Ring Fit Adventure
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
15. UFC 4
16. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
18. Super Mario Odyssey*
19. Mortal Kombat 11
20. Super Mario Party*

*Digital sales not included. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Marvel’s Avengers was the best-selling game of September, a bright spot for Crystal Dynamics as it works to refine the post-launch experience. Other best-sellers for the month include Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/01/marvels-avengers-kate-bishop-reveal-trailer"] Just today, Crystal Dynamics announced it will delay the Kate Bishop DLC and next-gen upgrades for Marvel’s Avengers as it works on additional fixes. However, Marvel’s Avengers seems to have had a successful launch, becoming the second best-selling superhero game in U.S. history after Insomniac’s Spider-Man. Super Mario 3D All-Stars was the second best-selling game in September and the 10th best-selling game of 2020. It generated the second-highest launch month for physical dollar sales of any 2020 release, behind only Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This was likely driven partially by the limited nature of the release, meant to celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvels-avengers-hero-challenge-cards-vendors-and-marketplace&captions=true"] Also on the top 10 sellers list is the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2, which has the best launch month dollar sales of any Tony Hawk game in the franchise; and Crusader Kings 3 which is the best-selling release in the franchise history. Crusader Kings 2 also has the highest launch month dollar sales of any game published by Paradox Interactive.

The best-selling games of September 2020

1. Marvel’s Avengers
2. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
3. Madden NFL 21
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
5. NBA 2K21*
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
7. Crusader Kings 3
8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
9. Star Wars: Squadrons
10. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe*
11. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
12. Ghost of Tsushima
13. Ring Fit Adventure
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
15. UFC 4
16. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
18. Super Mario Odyssey*
19. Mortal Kombat 11
20. Super Mario Party*

*Digital sales not included. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game talk show. This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- continue the Game of the Year Watch 2020 discussion with Hades, The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Animal Crossing, and more. There's also the PlayStation 5 UI to discuss, the Xbox Series launch lineup, D-pads, and more. This episode features music from Werewolf and Blaster Master on NES, and closes with a track from The Terminator on Sega Genesis. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service. Listen on: Apple Podcasts YouTube Spotify Stitcher   Find previous episodes here!

Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game talk show. This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- continue the Game of the Year Watch 2020 discussion with Hades, The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Animal Crossing, and more. There's also the PlayStation 5 UI to discuss, the Xbox Series launch lineup, D-pads, and more. This episode features music from Werewolf and Blaster Master on NES, and closes with a track from The Terminator on Sega Genesis. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service. Listen on: Apple Podcasts YouTube Spotify Stitcher   Find previous episodes here!

Star Trek: Discovery has been renewed for season 4. The cast appeared in a special video to announce that filming for the next season will begin on November 2. Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Michael Burnham on Discovery, and Doug Jones who plays Saru, appeared in a short video alongside the co-showrunners Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman to announce the season 4 renewal. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-trek-discovery-season-3-photos&captions=true"] No plot details were shared in the video, but the cast and crew shared their excitement at filming together again after being separated throughout the pandemic. Star Trek: Discovery premiered in 2017 and was developed specifically for CBS All Access. The news comes a day after the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery season 3 on CBS All Access. Set after Commander Burnham went into a wormhole in the season 2 finale, season 3 finds the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery in a mysterious future. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/21/star-trek-discovery-cast-wants-a-crossover-with-picard-2019"] You can read IGN’s Star Trek: Discovery season 3 premiere review. No release date has been set for the season 4 premiere. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Star Trek: Discovery has been renewed for season 4. The cast appeared in a special video to announce that filming for the next season will begin on November 2. Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Michael Burnham on Discovery, and Doug Jones who plays Saru, appeared in a short video alongside the co-showrunners Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman to announce the season 4 renewal. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-trek-discovery-season-3-photos&captions=true"] No plot details were shared in the video, but the cast and crew shared their excitement at filming together again after being separated throughout the pandemic. Star Trek: Discovery premiered in 2017 and was developed specifically for CBS All Access. The news comes a day after the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery season 3 on CBS All Access. Set after Commander Burnham went into a wormhole in the season 2 finale, season 3 finds the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery in a mysterious future. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/21/star-trek-discovery-cast-wants-a-crossover-with-picard-2019"] You can read IGN’s Star Trek: Discovery season 3 premiere review. No release date has been set for the season 4 premiere. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Microsoft shocked the gaming world when it acquired Bethesda and parent company ZeniMax Media recently for a whopping $7.5B. However, the decision has left a lot of people curious about the future of Bethesda games on other platforms, notably Sony's upcoming PS5. Kotaku's Stephen Totilo interviewed Xbox's Phil Spencer to discuss a bit more about the deal and what implications it may have for players outside the Xbox ecosystem. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xbox-one-first-party-review&captions=true"] “Is it possible to recoup a $7.5 billion investment if you don’t sell Elder Scrolls VI on the PlayStation?” asked Totilo. “Yes,” Spencer quickly replied. Then he paused. “I don’t want to be flip about that,” Spencer added. “This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that. Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: ‘How do we keep other players from playing these games?’ We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games." "When I think about where people are going to be playing and the number of devices that we had, and we have xCloud and PC and Game Pass and our console base, I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us," Spencer continued. "Whatever that means.” [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/15/xbox-series-x-the-final-preview] Bethesda is home to some of the biggest franchises in gaming including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, as well as DOOM, Wolfenstein, Dishonored, and more. Not having future titles arrive on PlayStation 5 or elsewhere puts Microsoft in a unique position, and one it must navigate delicately. Xbox purchased Bethesda after it already had timed exclusivity with PS5 for games like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo and Spencer has stated that the company plans to honor those deals. It has already begun adding some of Bethesda's back catalog of games to Xbox Game Pass including the recent addition of DOOM Eternal earlier this month. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] While he didn't completely rule out the idea of the upcoming Elder Scrolls VI or Starfield coming to other platforms outside Xbox and PC he did confirm in September that future titles would come to "other consoles on a case by case basis." This wouldn't be out of the norm as Xbox has already released a number of first-party games on other platforms—most notably Minecraft, which Microsoft acquired in 2015 for $2.5B. Additionally, titles such as Cuphead have made it over to PS4 and Nintendo Switch with a version even playable on Tesla electric cars. Recently, Ori and the Will of the Wisps debuted on Nintendo Switch, as well. Even after the massive purchase of Bethesda, Microsoft said it still considering purchasing additional video game studios "where it makes sense." [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/16/pros-cons-of-buying-at-launch-next-gen-console-watch] We've learned quite a bit about the upcoming Xbox Series X during our final hands-on preview including how specific games enhanced for Xbox Series X perform as well as just how important an SSD is for next-gen gaming. If you're still looking to get your hands on Xbox Series X or S be sure to check out our Xbox preorder page for the most up-to-date information on where to purchase. We've also got a handy next-gen guide that includes how to transfer saves and a list of all games coming to Xbox Series X and S. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

Microsoft shocked the gaming world when it acquired Bethesda and parent company ZeniMax Media recently for a whopping $7.5B. However, the decision has left a lot of people curious about the future of Bethesda games on other platforms, notably Sony's upcoming PS5. Kotaku's Stephen Totilo interviewed Xbox's Phil Spencer to discuss a bit more about the deal and what implications it may have for players outside the Xbox ecosystem. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xbox-one-first-party-review&captions=true"] “Is it possible to recoup a $7.5 billion investment if you don’t sell Elder Scrolls VI on the PlayStation?” asked Totilo. “Yes,” Spencer quickly replied. Then he paused. “I don’t want to be flip about that,” Spencer added. “This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that. Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: ‘How do we keep other players from playing these games?’ We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games." "When I think about where people are going to be playing and the number of devices that we had, and we have xCloud and PC and Game Pass and our console base, I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us," Spencer continued. "Whatever that means.” [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/15/xbox-series-x-the-final-preview] Bethesda is home to some of the biggest franchises in gaming including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, as well as DOOM, Wolfenstein, Dishonored, and more. Not having future titles arrive on PlayStation 5 or elsewhere puts Microsoft in a unique position, and one it must navigate delicately. Xbox purchased Bethesda after it already had timed exclusivity with PS5 for games like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo and Spencer has stated that the company plans to honor those deals. It has already begun adding some of Bethesda's back catalog of games to Xbox Game Pass including the recent addition of DOOM Eternal earlier this month. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] While he didn't completely rule out the idea of the upcoming Elder Scrolls VI or Starfield coming to other platforms outside Xbox and PC he did confirm in September that future titles would come to "other consoles on a case by case basis." This wouldn't be out of the norm as Xbox has already released a number of first-party games on other platforms—most notably Minecraft, which Microsoft acquired in 2015 for $2.5B. Additionally, titles such as Cuphead have made it over to PS4 and Nintendo Switch with a version even playable on Tesla electric cars. Recently, Ori and the Will of the Wisps debuted on Nintendo Switch, as well. Even after the massive purchase of Bethesda, Microsoft said it still considering purchasing additional video game studios "where it makes sense." [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/16/pros-cons-of-buying-at-launch-next-gen-console-watch] We've learned quite a bit about the upcoming Xbox Series X during our final hands-on preview including how specific games enhanced for Xbox Series X perform as well as just how important an SSD is for next-gen gaming. If you're still looking to get your hands on Xbox Series X or S be sure to check out our Xbox preorder page for the most up-to-date information on where to purchase. We've also got a handy next-gen guide that includes how to transfer saves and a list of all games coming to Xbox Series X and S. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

Sony showcased the PS5 user interface in a new walkthrough video that shows the next-gen PlayStation is in for a major revamp. While there are still plenty of questions left about the PS5 UI experience, we also learned about some major changes. Here’s our rundown of the biggest. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ps5-ui-screenshots&captions=true"]

It’s Fast

Let’s start with the most obvious upgrade - PS5’s UI looks fast. The demonstration shows the console booting up from rest mode, and hopping from the dashboard view to in-game action to the new Activities feed looks snappy and responsive. There’s no slowdown or hitching while scrolling through the UI, icons don’t take much time to load in, and all other speed issues the PS4 interface seem to be gone. Jumping into a new game is immediately faster on the PS5 than it is on the PS4. Of course, there’s the question of whether or not having a bunch of applications running in the background affects this, but at least fresh out of the box, it looks fast as hell. Pending any firmware updates, I assume.

Control Center Activities Cards

Sony spent the most time talking about the PS5’s new Control Center view. On the PS4, pressing the DualShock 4’s PlayStation button kicks you back to the dashboard, while holding the button down for a bit brings up a shorthand version of the UI... and a slow one at that. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/15/first-look-at-the-ps5-ui"] On the PS5, it looks like pressing that button on the DualSense brings you to the new Control Center, which allows you quick access to most of the features you’d need while in-game, like notifications, your friends, download status list, and even the power settings. But most of the real estate is taken up by Cards, which look to introduce some much-needed additions to the PlayStation experience. Cards will look familiar to anyone who’s spent time in the Apple App Store UI, but Sony’s take offers a row of bold images with limited text that pop up over your in-game screen, offering you quick access to a variety of PS5 and game options. Some Cards allow you access to a media feed of news or new trailers for games you’re following, while another holds your recently captured media. Both are easily accessible evolutions of what you can do on PS4. But it’s the Activities Cards that marks the biggest change. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/30/sackboy-a-big-adventure-sumo-introduces-sackboy-video"] In Sackboy: A Big Adventure, for example, players can track progress of certain objectives, like levels they’ve played, trophies they’ve earned, and even ones “suggested by the system.” Starting off with levels played, we see the player jump into a level directly from the PS5’s UI that they’ve already started, but with some objectives they’ve yet to complete. All of that info is listed in this Activity card, rather than within the game itself. Other cards not clicked on in the video show a promising advancement for Trophy hunters - individual trophy cards that list completion percentage. We know how frustrating it is to be hunting a trophy that requires you to collect 150 orbs but doesn’t tell you progress, so for completionists, this should be a big help in tracking progress and deciding on what objectives to focus on next. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ps5-teardown&captions=true"] The cards can even give you an estimate of how long an objective will take to complete, which the walkthrough describes as “PlayStation 5’s personalized playtime estimate.” It’s unclear as of now if this is something the system can intuit based on the rest of your play experience, or the experience of other players, but it’s a cool feature nonetheless for those who need to be selective about their game time. PlayStation also mentions there will be some cards ‘suggested’ by the system. While we don’t know the full extent of what this means, we’re shown a brief example of the next levels the player can pursue in Sackboy: A Big Adventure. All of this, of course, raises the question of how much work developers will need to put into designing bespoke Cards for their games, versus what data the PS5 can pull from game saves and trophy progress. The PS4 already tracks what trophies you have, and your overall completion progress,, but the PS5 has a lot more information to keep track of.

Built-In Help

Activities cards also offer in-game help, though this appears to be a PlayStation Plus-exclusive benefit. Sony notes that in-game help won’t be available in every game, or even for every objective, but it is intended to keep you in the experience, rather than having to hop to a secondary screen. In Sackboy, for example, you can access a series of hints with varying amounts of information, from screenshots to full-on walkthrough videos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/destruction-allstars-announcement-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"] These hints can all be accessed without ever leaving the game. The PS5 UI now allows for information to be pinned alongside your game, so if you’re playing a particularly complicated section, you could temporarily pin the help video next to your game as you play.

Friend Interactions

PS5’s friend interactions are also designed to keep you involved in whatever you’re doing without forcing you to scroll through a ton of menus outside of your game. In the example given, a voice chat invite can be joined quickly while in the middle of whatever you’re playing. You can start chatting immediately with friends via the DualSense’s microphone, but also mute yourself via the controller or in menus if needed. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-game-and-announcement-featured-in-the-playstation-5-showcase-event&captions=true"] Sony describes parties as more of a persistent experience across your PS5 experience. For example, your friends within a party can now share their screen. You can watch someone play while you continue playing, and you can customize that view however you’d like it. You can pin it like you would game help, or even watch it picture-in-picture in various spots on your screen. Perhaps most impressively, if a few friends in your party are in a multiplayer game that you’re not playing, you can join the game via a Card in the control center, and the PS5 immediately drops you into the action. Sony’s quick fast forward aside, the jump from joining the game to being in-game is seconds long.

Less Clutter

In the walkthrough video, Sony didn’t spend much time on the PS5’s home screen — we see nothing of the Media center, or any of the extraneous options we’ll get. But, what we did see looked like an evolution of the PS4’s dashboard. Whenever you hover over and expand info on a single game, we’re invited into a home page of said game, with a large piece of artwork, a big ol’ play button, and a brief encapsulation of your trophy progress. The idea seems to be to get you into your games without any fuss. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/ps5-launch-answers-sony-addresses-major-questions-beyond-episode-670"] While the main page is sparse, players can scroll down to see a batch of Activities Cards you can use to easily jump into different games, levels, or newsfeeds. Sony only showcased one PS5 game’s home page in the video in detail, but it did promise backward-compatible PS4 games will benefit from “some” of the layout’s features. And finally, the PlayStation Store, that slow, long-loading way to expand your library, is “completely integrated into the system” rather than an app you click into. Sony didn’t spend much time explaining exactly how the new Store experience will work, but did promise some level of personalization. Overall, though, the messaging points toward a much smoother Store experience than what the PS4 currently offers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] There’s plenty more to the PS5 UI not detailed in Sony’s first video,, and we still have a bunch of questions — the Create button’s functionality, for example, is only briefly touched on, while the compatibility of all these features could vary game-to-game. But everything shown is certainly an indication that Sony has taken criticisms of the PS4 dashboard to heart, and has created an experience that gets you into games more quickly, tracks your progress more comprehensively, and hopefully breaks some of the multiple-menu barriers when it comes to playing with friends. And thankfully, we only have to wait a few more weeks to try it out ourselves. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Sony showcased the PS5 user interface in a new walkthrough video that shows the next-gen PlayStation is in for a major revamp. While there are still plenty of questions left about the PS5 UI experience, we also learned about some major changes. Here’s our rundown of the biggest. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ps5-ui-screenshots&captions=true"]

It’s Fast

Let’s start with the most obvious upgrade - PS5’s UI looks fast. The demonstration shows the console booting up from rest mode, and hopping from the dashboard view to in-game action to the new Activities feed looks snappy and responsive. There’s no slowdown or hitching while scrolling through the UI, icons don’t take much time to load in, and all other speed issues the PS4 interface seem to be gone. Jumping into a new game is immediately faster on the PS5 than it is on the PS4. Of course, there’s the question of whether or not having a bunch of applications running in the background affects this, but at least fresh out of the box, it looks fast as hell. Pending any firmware updates, I assume.

Control Center Activities Cards

Sony spent the most time talking about the PS5’s new Control Center view. On the PS4, pressing the DualShock 4’s PlayStation button kicks you back to the dashboard, while holding the button down for a bit brings up a shorthand version of the UI... and a slow one at that. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/15/first-look-at-the-ps5-ui"] On the PS5, it looks like pressing that button on the DualSense brings you to the new Control Center, which allows you quick access to most of the features you’d need while in-game, like notifications, your friends, download status list, and even the power settings. But most of the real estate is taken up by Cards, which look to introduce some much-needed additions to the PlayStation experience. Cards will look familiar to anyone who’s spent time in the Apple App Store UI, but Sony’s take offers a row of bold images with limited text that pop up over your in-game screen, offering you quick access to a variety of PS5 and game options. Some Cards allow you access to a media feed of news or new trailers for games you’re following, while another holds your recently captured media. Both are easily accessible evolutions of what you can do on PS4. But it’s the Activities Cards that marks the biggest change. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/30/sackboy-a-big-adventure-sumo-introduces-sackboy-video"] In Sackboy: A Big Adventure, for example, players can track progress of certain objectives, like levels they’ve played, trophies they’ve earned, and even ones “suggested by the system.” Starting off with levels played, we see the player jump into a level directly from the PS5’s UI that they’ve already started, but with some objectives they’ve yet to complete. All of that info is listed in this Activity card, rather than within the game itself. Other cards not clicked on in the video show a promising advancement for Trophy hunters - individual trophy cards that list completion percentage. We know how frustrating it is to be hunting a trophy that requires you to collect 150 orbs but doesn’t tell you progress, so for completionists, this should be a big help in tracking progress and deciding on what objectives to focus on next. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ps5-teardown&captions=true"] The cards can even give you an estimate of how long an objective will take to complete, which the walkthrough describes as “PlayStation 5’s personalized playtime estimate.” It’s unclear as of now if this is something the system can intuit based on the rest of your play experience, or the experience of other players, but it’s a cool feature nonetheless for those who need to be selective about their game time. PlayStation also mentions there will be some cards ‘suggested’ by the system. While we don’t know the full extent of what this means, we’re shown a brief example of the next levels the player can pursue in Sackboy: A Big Adventure. All of this, of course, raises the question of how much work developers will need to put into designing bespoke Cards for their games, versus what data the PS5 can pull from game saves and trophy progress. The PS4 already tracks what trophies you have, and your overall completion progress,, but the PS5 has a lot more information to keep track of.

Built-In Help

Activities cards also offer in-game help, though this appears to be a PlayStation Plus-exclusive benefit. Sony notes that in-game help won’t be available in every game, or even for every objective, but it is intended to keep you in the experience, rather than having to hop to a secondary screen. In Sackboy, for example, you can access a series of hints with varying amounts of information, from screenshots to full-on walkthrough videos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/destruction-allstars-announcement-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"] These hints can all be accessed without ever leaving the game. The PS5 UI now allows for information to be pinned alongside your game, so if you’re playing a particularly complicated section, you could temporarily pin the help video next to your game as you play.

Friend Interactions

PS5’s friend interactions are also designed to keep you involved in whatever you’re doing without forcing you to scroll through a ton of menus outside of your game. In the example given, a voice chat invite can be joined quickly while in the middle of whatever you’re playing. You can start chatting immediately with friends via the DualSense’s microphone, but also mute yourself via the controller or in menus if needed. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-game-and-announcement-featured-in-the-playstation-5-showcase-event&captions=true"] Sony describes parties as more of a persistent experience across your PS5 experience. For example, your friends within a party can now share their screen. You can watch someone play while you continue playing, and you can customize that view however you’d like it. You can pin it like you would game help, or even watch it picture-in-picture in various spots on your screen. Perhaps most impressively, if a few friends in your party are in a multiplayer game that you’re not playing, you can join the game via a Card in the control center, and the PS5 immediately drops you into the action. Sony’s quick fast forward aside, the jump from joining the game to being in-game is seconds long.

Less Clutter

In the walkthrough video, Sony didn’t spend much time on the PS5’s home screen — we see nothing of the Media center, or any of the extraneous options we’ll get. But, what we did see looked like an evolution of the PS4’s dashboard. Whenever you hover over and expand info on a single game, we’re invited into a home page of said game, with a large piece of artwork, a big ol’ play button, and a brief encapsulation of your trophy progress. The idea seems to be to get you into your games without any fuss. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/ps5-launch-answers-sony-addresses-major-questions-beyond-episode-670"] While the main page is sparse, players can scroll down to see a batch of Activities Cards you can use to easily jump into different games, levels, or newsfeeds. Sony only showcased one PS5 game’s home page in the video in detail, but it did promise backward-compatible PS4 games will benefit from “some” of the layout’s features. And finally, the PlayStation Store, that slow, long-loading way to expand your library, is “completely integrated into the system” rather than an app you click into. Sony didn’t spend much time explaining exactly how the new Store experience will work, but did promise some level of personalization. Overall, though, the messaging points toward a much smoother Store experience than what the PS4 currently offers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] There’s plenty more to the PS5 UI not detailed in Sony’s first video,, and we still have a bunch of questions — the Create button’s functionality, for example, is only briefly touched on, while the compatibility of all these features could vary game-to-game. But everything shown is certainly an indication that Sony has taken criticisms of the PS4 dashboard to heart, and has created an experience that gets you into games more quickly, tracks your progress more comprehensively, and hopefully breaks some of the multiple-menu barriers when it comes to playing with friends. And thankfully, we only have to wait a few more weeks to try it out ourselves. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.