There are few things that aggravate tech fans like unsolicited advertisements creeping onto their screens and today it’s Sony PlayStation’s turn to run afoul of the ad-hating masses.
It’s the new PS5 operating system update for September that has irked gamers. When users hover over a video game on the homepage, they’re no longer seeing unique artwork related to the game, they’re seeing advertisements.
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Multiple reports claim gamers they’re seeing advertisements, promos for different games from the same publisher, related YouTube videos, and notices of software patches. In some cases, the information is also significantly outdated.
IGN reports that users hovering over Call of Duty now promotes an advertisement for The Haunting returning for season 6. The Horizon Zero Dawn icon features an advertisement for Lego Horzon Adventures, which is out on November 14.
If you hover over the Spider-Man: Miles Morales icon from the ‘Games’ menu, the homescreen offers a chance to watch an exclusive clip from the Across the Spider-Verse film that’s now been out 15 months.
The showcasing of old content suggests this might be some kind of bug, rather than a deliberate ploy. The NBA 2K25 page, for instance, now invites people to take advantage of early access for the game, which arrived much earlier in September, so clearly this isn’t the logical information to be conveying to gamers at this point.
Regardless of the intent, PS5 gamers aren’t happy about it and it mirrors complaints from Xbox gamers about the increasing amount of ads they’re being subjected to on their homescreens, including full-page ads.
