Sony made available a new beta version of the PlayStation 5 firmware for selected users in the USA, Canada, Japan, France and the UK – 8.00 Beta.

It adds the ability to encode multi-channel audio in Tempest 3D AudioTech-enabled games to Dolby Atmos (in addition to Dolby Digital, DTS and PCM), which is then output to an Atmos-compatible AV receiver. Also, tactile feedback support is added to the interface — this option allows you to get touch and sound feedback when navigating the system using DualSense, DualSense Edge or PS VR2 Sense controllers.

Also, the new firmware will make it possible to connect a second DualSense as the main controller – in this case, it will duplicate the first and can be used both for navigating the system interface and for joint control in games – for example, as Sony notes, to help a child pass a particularly difficult episode.

In addition, Sony is improving the social features of the system: the ability to invite a player to a group without automatically adding them to the group, the screen preview that the player in the group is sharing before joining the group, the ability to see which of your friends is engaged in activities that you can join, on the “Friends” tab, etc.

Also, the firmware beta finally introduced the search for games in its own library, improved system cards with help in games, and the ability to turn off or adjust the volume of the PlayStation 5 beep when turning on, turning off or putting the console into standby mode.

Moreover, the limit on the maximum size of the M.2 SSD drive that the user can install in the console was increased from 4 to 8 TB.