Sony’s latest PS5 system update includes the usual performance and stability improvements, but one addition could have a much bigger effect on how players discover what to play next. PS5 Community Activity has arrived in the Welcome Hub, giving console owners a direct look at which games are gaining momentum in their own country or region.
The widget does more than display another popularity chart. It separates games that are suddenly trending from those with the largest established communities, potentially turning the PS5 home experience into a new discovery tool.
System software version 26.06-14.00.00 started rolling out on September 16, alongside improvements to voice chat, new PS5 Pro behavior and a specialized Bluetooth option.
PS5 Community Activity brings regional trends to the console
The new PS5 Community Activity widget lives inside the Welcome Hub and offers two different ways to see what other players are currently playing.
Trending Now highlights ten multiplayer games or multiplayer modes experiencing a surge in popularity. Sony positions this view as a way to identify new releases or existing games enjoying renewed attention after significant updates.
Top 10, meanwhile, shows the ten most popular games from the previous week in the player’s country or region.
That difference is important.
A traditional popularity chart tends to favor enormous evergreen games that rarely leave the top positions. Trending Now can theoretically expose something different: a smaller game suddenly gaining players, an older multiplayer title enjoying a comeback or a major update convincing thousands of people to return.
In other words, one view answers “What is everyone playing?” while the other is closer to “What is suddenly getting popular?”
The widget could become a powerful discovery tool
Modern game stores have a discovery problem. Players have access to enormous libraries, subscription catalogs and constant releases, yet identifying a multiplayer game with an active community can still require searching outside the console.
PS5 Community Activity puts some of that information directly on the dashboard.
That could be particularly useful for multiplayer games because population matters. Finding an interesting title is one thing; knowing that thousands of players in your region are suddenly returning to it gives considerably more context before committing to a download.
The regional element also makes the feature more relevant than a single worldwide chart.
A sports game, fighting game or multiplayer release could have a particularly strong community in one market without appearing near the top globally. Likewise, regional preferences can produce very different lists depending on where a PS5 is being used.
At launch, Fortnite, Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto 5 were among the biggest weekly games reported in the United States, while titles including NHL 27 and Teardown appeared among trending activity.
The useful part is not necessarily which games occupy those positions today. It is that the list can keep changing.
For more developments around Sony’s console, Battle4Play has also covered PlayStation’s recent State of Play strategy around Phantom Blade Zero, another example of how Sony is increasingly using its ecosystem to put specific games directly in front of PS5 players.
PS5 Pro gets an important PSSR change by default
The September update also contains a significant change specifically for PS5 Pro owners.
Enhance PSSR Image Quality is now enabled by default after installing the new system software. Games supporting the previous version of PlayStation’s PSSR technology can use the enhanced option, which is designed to provide a sharper and clearer reconstructed image.
Previously, players had more reason to think about whether the enhanced setting was active. Making it the default means Sony is effectively moving its newer PSSR implementation closer to being the standard experience on PS5 Pro.
Players who prefer not to use it can still disable the option through:
Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output > Enhance PSSR Image Quality
The change applies only to PS5 Pro.
That distinction is worth remembering because PS5 Community Activity, voice-chat improvements and other elements of the update are not inherently tied to owning Sony’s more powerful console.
Voice chat now makes speakers easier to identify
Another quality-of-life addition addresses something that can become surprisingly confusing in larger voice chats.
PS5 can now display the PSN name of the person currently speaking.
Users can enable the speaker indicator through the voice chat card in Control Center by opening More > Display Who’s Speaking and activating Display Names. Its position on the screen can also be adjusted.
It is a comparatively small feature, but one that becomes more valuable when playing with groups where not everyone immediately recognizes each voice.
Sony has also introduced the ability to turn off Bluetooth functionality across the console in supported countries and regions. However, this option is specifically intended for managing controller connections at esports venues and similar environments.
Disabling Bluetooth also prevents rest mode and HDMI Device Link from functioning, so it is not designed as a normal everyday setting for home users.
PS5 Community Activity may matter more over time
The most interesting question is what Sony eventually does with the new widget.
Right now, PS5 Community Activity is essentially an information layer: it shows which multiplayer experiences are surging and which games attracted the largest communities during the previous week.
However, putting regional player trends directly inside the Welcome Hub creates possibilities beyond a simple ranking.
Players could use it to spot unexpected multiplayer revivals after updates. Publishers may pay closer attention to whether their releases reach Trending Now. Meanwhile, smaller games could receive valuable visibility if a sudden increase in activity is strong enough to surface on millions of console dashboards.
It could even help distinguish genuine player momentum from marketing visibility.
Sony has not announced those broader uses, so they should not be treated as confirmed plans. Still, the foundation is now sitting directly inside the PS5 interface.
Players who have not received the update automatically can check for the latest system software through PlayStation’s official PS5 system software support page.
Version 26.06-14.00.00 may therefore be remembered for more than another round of stability improvements. PSSR changes will matter to PS5 Pro owners and the new voice indicator is convenient, but PS5 Community Activity has the potential to affect something every console platform struggles with: helping players discover where people are actually playing right now.
Creator of the website, Pokemon trainer by nature. Trying to report on everything related to the world of video games, series and movies. Yu-Gi-Oh is my weakness, collecting cards since the dawn of time.
