PlayStation 5 finally gets 1440p support and game folders

Sony has begun testing a software update that adds some key features that users have been asking for for almost two years. While there’s a lot going on in this update – it’s one of the most significant since the PS5 first shipped – two features stand out in particular.

First, the PS5 now supports 1440p output via HDMI. It previously supported 720p, 1080i, 1080p and 4K as these are the most common TV resolutions. But many gamers wanted to play PS5 on their desktop monitors at 1440p, something that both Xbox and (apparently) gaming PCs have supported for a long time.

There are quite a few games on the console that are great at 1440p, especially since 1440p was the actual resolution for many PS4 Pro games, and it’s the usual resolution for 60 or 120 fps performance modes in some PS5 games. Games that support 1440p native resolution will be output at that resolution.

The other flagship feature is essentially game folders. This is what the PS4 system software offers, but the PS5 is doing the same for the first time. Sony calls these “game lists”and you can create them from the Your Collection menu. You can have up to 15 lists, each with up to 100 games. And it doesn’t matter what game you want to add: disc, download or streaming: they will all work.

It’s hard to tell for sure just from Sony’s blog post, but it looks like these folders only appear in Your Collection and not in the set view or home screen. If you mainly manage and run your games from these views, you might be out of luck. We’ll have to wait to be sure.

Other new features in the system software update include: a dialog box for comparing stereo and 3D audio in headphones; an easy way to navigate to your current activity in games that support the PS5 Action Interface; the ability to ask to share your screen with someone in your group; a new notification that allows you to directly join games that your party members start; the ability to immediately view the profiles of new friends; and a way to send stickers or voice messages to people in a group from the game’s basemap.

The new features are now available to beta testers, but unfortunately only to beta testers. Sony says it plans to roll them out to all users later this year.