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The Activity Cards that appear as part of the PS5 user interface were created by Sony in response to player complaints about single player gaming.
A new report from Vice details an internal Sony document that the company used to explain its new Activities and game help systems. The documents reportedly begins with Sony explaining that “single player is thriving” and that PlayStation owners regularly spend more time playing offline games than online ones.
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To ensure offline games were better catered to, Sony had gathered some criticism of single player gaming which needed to be addressed on PS5. The problems included players saying they “don't play unless I have 2+ free hours” because of being unsure of how long a game may ask of them, that they “Forgot what I was doing in this game last time”, and that it “Takes a lot of time to scan through long help videos when stuck”. Players were also concerned about using social tools because of game spoilers.
In response, the document presents the PS5 Activity Cards. As you may know, Activities provide on-screen card prompts for different aspects of a game, often along with an estimated time for completion. When playing Spider-Man: Miles Morales, for example, you can see that a side quest will take five minutes, or a main quest that will need 45 minutes. These cards will then take you directly to those activities.
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In addition, Cards can be used to provide game help, and the PS5 features more tools to keep spoiler content under wraps so as not to ruin other players’ experiences.
For more on the PS5's unique features, check out our pages on PS5's Game Switcher, our hidden feature guide, and our comprehensive PS5 wiki guide.
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Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.