Today we’re happy to reveal the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April. The Monthly Games lineup of Meet Your Maker, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Tails of Iron will be available to PlayStation Plus members on Tuesday, April 4 until Monday May 1.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the games in turn.

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Meet Your Maker | PS4, PS5

Meet Your Maker is a post-apocalyptic first-person building-and-raiding game where every level is designed by players. Switch between roles as you mastermind devious Outposts filled with traps and guards, then gear up for methodical fast-paced combat raiding other players’ creations, gaining an edge by choosing the right loadout (melee, ranged, defensive), perks, and consumables to match your challenge or playstyle. Combine your creativity and build with a friend or join forces to raid Outposts as a team of two.

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As we strive to make gaming more accessible for all players, today we’re excited to announce that Accessibility Tags are rolling out globally this week on PlayStation Store on the PS5 console.

Accessibility Tags allow game developers to provide detailed insight on accessibility features supported in their games. As you browse various game hubs on PlayStation Store game hubs on PS5, you’ll see a list of accessibility features by pressing the “Triangle” button if the game you select supports Accessibility Tags. These can range from visual and audio accessibility settings to DualSense controller options, difficulty settings, and online communication features like chat transcription.

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Clip showing Accessibility Tags in the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut game hub on PS5.

Accessibility Tags will be available for PS5 and PS4 games on PlayStation Store on PS5. If both PS5 and PS4 platform versions are available, you can compare Accessibility Tags for each through a dropdown menu.

With Accessibility Tags, you’ll be able to easily see if the game you want to play features the accessibility options you’re looking for. Here’s a sampling of the more than 50 Accessibility Tags available for game developers to choose from, across six categories:

• Visual accessibility features, such as clear text, large text, color alternatives, audio cues and directional audio indicators. 
• Audio features, such as volume controls, mono audio, screen reader and visual cue alternatives.
• Subtitle and caption options, including subtitle size, clear captions, and large captions.
• Control options, including button remapping, thumbstick sensitivity, and ability to play without button holds, rapid button presses or motion control.
• Gameplay options, such as difficulty settings, skippable puzzles, simplified quick time events, and game speed.
• Online communication options, such as text or voice chat transcription and ping communication.

Accessibility Tags on PlayStation Store for PS5 will gradually release for players this week. At launch a variety of games such as Days Gone, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, God of War, God of War Ragnarök, Gran Turismo 7, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Returnal will support Accessibility Tags. We are just starting to roll out this feature and are collaborating with a wide range of developers to implement this feature in their game hubs

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a galaxy of fleshed-out worlds that aims to surpass its predecessor in every way. The numerous spectacles I witnessed within my three hours playing Respawn Entertainment’s upcoming sequel ranged from dynamic vistas, diverse communities, and an ecosystem of friendlies and enemies that your in-game actions directly impact. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is not striving to only be a great Star Wars game but an overall excellent game of galactic proportions. 

Enhanced combat options

One key to living out any Jedi fantasy is the feeling of complete control over the Force and your weapons, and Survivor does not disappoint. There are now five different combat stances to unlock throughout the game as your primary and secondary: 

• Single – The standard balanced “all-rounder” lightsaber option 
• Double-bladed – Good for crowd control and keeping enemies at bay 
• Dual Wield – Great for high-octane and versatile combat, requires finesse 
• Crossguard – Powerful but slow
• Blaster – Great for dealing with enemies at a distance and pestering foes 

Yes, you will be able to wield a blaster. Protagonist Cal Kestis can also perform blaster and lightsaber combos, wielding one in each hand to dispatch foes in creative and visually spectacular ways. 

The new options provide unique ways to tackle enemies. The crossguard lightsaber acts like a traditional longsword with slow windup times but deals massive damage to anything it comes in contact with, while dual wield allows you to deliver quick and precise strikes while staying agile. 

“One thing I think we looked at in the first game is that that power curve came in a little bit too late,” said Stig Asmussen, game director at Respawn. “You didn’t really start feeling like you had [power], which is by design, you’re this raw and incomplete Padawan that hasn’t been trained in years. We wanted the player to feel that. And it’s around 60% into the first game, you start to feel like, ‘hey, I got a lot of powers right now that I can use to manipulate and eventually dominate both combat and the environment.’ And we definitely want that to come in a little bit sooner on this game because Cal is further along on his path.”

Early in the game, you’ll have access to three stances and all of the basic Force abilities Cal acquired in the first game. Along with some new ones, including Force Confusion which allows players to turn enemies against each other briefly, and Tame giving the ability to mount various creatures to navigate the environment for faster traversal or puzzle solving. 

The power of PS5

The game looks stunning and has been optimized to take full advantage of what the PS5 has to offer. When flying around the world with the help of a Belter, a new flying mount, it becomes apparent just how massive and detailed the new worlds Cal will explore are, with looming structures in the distance casting vast shadows, enemies on patrol, and glimpses of the unknown on the horizon. All this is rendered in real-time and detailed regardless of distance. 

“With the PS5, we’re really digging the haptics and what the controller is bringing, and it’s been a lot of fun to see how that works with push and pull [Force powers],”

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

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Tetris creators Henk Rogers and Alexey Pajitnov join PlayStation Podcast to chat about bringing the iconic game’s origin story to the silver screen. After diving into the discussion, sit back and watch Tetris now on Apple TV+ with free trials on PS5 and PS4.

Stuff We Talked About

• Tetris (the history)
• Tetris (the movie)
• Tetris (the game)
• Tetris 99
• Tetris Effect
• Tetris in space!
• Tetris

The Cast

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Last week, we asked you to set sail and explore the soulful world of Tchia using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

call_me_xavii shares Tchia wearing casual clothes and a baseball cap sitting by a fire

asensualmanatee shares Tchia sitting on a hill with the sky red with the sunset

photo_station5 shares Tchia on her boat headed towards land with a mountain and the sun in the center background

godhatesash shares a close up look at golden brown cow with white horns

kani3_sun shares Tchia soul-jumped into a cat sitting in a field of grass

FMJLullaby shares Tchia and her father out of focus as their friend arrives on his boat.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Resident Evil 4
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on April 5, 2023

Next week, what’re ya sharin’? Share action-packed moments exploring and fighting back as Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil 4 using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Hey Internet people, this is Yasmine from the Community team at Survios. We’re excited to bring PS Blog readers an in-depth look at Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition, the upcoming remaster of the 2018 Creed: Rise to Glory where you train as Adonis Creed under the tutelage of the legendary Rocky Balboa on your journey to become a boxing champion, coming April 4 for PS VR2. Following the release of Creed III in theaters nationwide, Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition will feature new boxers, a Muscle Beach location based on the film, plus plenty of additions that will deliver an enhanced and expanded version of the original. With the weekend coming, we want to share what makes this remaster special with an in-depth look at the new game content PS VR2 players can get their hands on this Tuesday.

Endurance Mode to pull no punches

Want to take a step further and test your boxing skills to the limit? That’s where Endurance Mode comes in, making its debut on PS VR2. By removing the virtual stamina system, your character only gets tired when you’re tired, resulting in a more intense and realistic bout.

Further tailor your experience in fight settings to scale your opponent’s difficulty by adjusting their health and damage modifiers. Practice your chops in Rookie Mode or scale up to Pro to lock horns with boxers of all calibers – the fight is yours to own.

Fitness Modes for the ultimate workout

Give them the ole’ one-two with the addition of Fitness Mode for either Calorie Sparring or Timed Sparring. Fitness goals are unique to everyone, so we created settings that allow you to meet your personal calorie or time targets, and build a training regimen that best fits your needs. We’ve also included the option to bake in rest periods to trigger as often and as long as you prefer.

PvP Mode

We don’t take the “Championship Edition” part of our title lightly, which is why we optimized PvP Mode in our remaster with new and improved matchmaking algorithms. Take the championship title from friends and foes as you strive to make it to the top. We’re thrilled to support cross-platform play, so you can go tit-for-tat against Meta Quest 2 opponents. We also included Codematching for players to set custom codes and share with others to streamline connection, no friend’s lists required.

New arenas, characters, and costumes

Beyond the plethora of new and improved modes we’ve brought to Championship Edition, we have included 3 new arenas, 8 new characters, and a costume system with nearly 100 looks sure to shake up a crowd. For the Deluxe Edition, receive an additional 22 “Glow” costumes that are sure to draw some eyeballs.

We’re so excited at Survios to bring you Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition and we hope you’ll be able to get your fight on, no matter how you want to play. PlayStation Plus users can pre-order now to receive a 10% discount and a timed exclusive Adonis Creed costume.

Until then, let us know in the comments what you’re most hyped about!

Set to be released for PlayStation 5 on June 22, Final Fantasy XVI is the next mainline installment of the Final Fantasy series, which follows Clive Rosfield, the protagonist, as he harnesses the power of multiple summons to overcome his tragic destiny. The game is the first full-fledged action RPG in the Final Fantasy series and features high-speed battles in which players switch between the powers of various Eikons, as well as large-scale Eikon vs. Eikon battles.

We spoke with the main director, Hiroshi Takai, about how the game harnesses PS5’s power and how it was optimized and developed for PS5.

As a developer, what were your first impressions of the power and technology of the PS5?

Hiroshi Takai: The two main things that struck me were the size of the memory and the speed of the SSD. I’ve worked with a lot of different hardware over the years, and many have failed to strike the right balance between the capabilities of the hardware and the size of the memory. However, the PS5 is different—it comes with enough memory installed to take full advantage of the hardware. As for the SSD, as we were building the game, I was simply blown away by how fast it was.

The Final Fantasy franchise is known for the quality of its graphics. Final Fantasy XVI was developed as a PS5 game first and foremost, so how did you take advantage of the power of the hardware when it came to the graphics and the gameplay?

Naturally, we wanted the graphics to be the best that they could be, so we put a lot of focus on the fine details of the character and environmental models, as well as the quality of the lighting and the shadows, to really make them shine. It’s really resource-intensive just to render these models on screen, and the lighting and shadow effects are then layered on top of that. We’re only able to do this thanks to the size of the PS5’s memory. Clive, the protagonist of FFXVI, can unleash a wide range of attacks, and the animations and effects for them can all fit in the memory, too. And the way that the game seamlessly flows between resource-intensive gameplay to equally intensive cutscenes and back again wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the speed of the SSD.

Could you explain a little bit about how FFXVI makes use of the PS5 DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback in battle and exploration?

There are certain sections where the player will have to open heavy doors or lift up portcullises, and we use the adaptive triggers there to put across that feeling of effort and resistance. They’re also used when riding chocobos. The haptic feedback can produce extremely subtle vibrations, which we use to create a heightened feeling of presence in cutscenes. We converted the sound effects used in each scene into haptic data, which let us portray details that we’ve never been able to before, like the movements of the air.

Final Fantasy XVI will be the first fully-fledged action RPG in the history of the series. It’s a bold move to abandon the command system entirely. What was your aim with this?

That’s right, when it came to design

Today we’re happy to reveal the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April. The Monthly Games lineup of Meet Your Maker, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Tails of Iron will be available to PlayStation Plus members on Tuesday, April 4 until Monday May 1. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of the games in turn. 

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Meet Your Maker | PS4, PS5 

Meet Your Maker is a post-apocalyptic first-person building-and-raiding game where every level is designed by players. Switch between roles as you mastermind devious Outposts filled with traps and guards, then gear up for methodical fast-paced combat raiding other players’ creations, gaining an edge by choosing the right loadout (melee, ranged, defensive), perks, and consumables to match your challenge or playstyle. Combine your creativity and build with a friend or join forces to raid Outposts as a team of two.

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Hello everyone! My name is Stephanie, and I am the community manager at Amplitude Studios, and I am here to tell you a little more about our latest game, Endless Dungeon.

Endless Dungeon is a genre-blending roguelite developed by Amplitude Studios and published by Sega – equal parts top-down tactical action & twin-stick shooter with a sprinkle of tower defense. For the uninitiated, roguelite means your unlocked progression persists through each run. Players find themselves stranded aboard a derelict space station where they must recruit an eclectic band of heroes – who have no business being friends – and protect their Crystal Bot-buddy as they work to find answers and fight through never-ending waves of monsters who have been twisted by less-than-ethical scientific experiments…. Or die trying. Then, respawn, reload, and die, die again.

Bunker, Cartie and Shroom arrive at the Astral Harbor’s Elevator with the crystal

No stranger to the roguelite genre, we here at Amplitude Studios are building on our already impressive (and award-winning, ahem) inter-connected Endless Universe, where the game is set. As a spiritual successor to Dungeon of the Endless (DotE), Endless Dungeon brings massive changes to the series – with full & direct player control, evolution to full 3D, and an evocative art style, players will lose themselves and their lives within the dimly lit corridors of the expansive space station. Players will be challenged to fight through hordes of grotesque blobs, bugs, blurs, and bots, all while they learn more about the heroes and what brought each of these eclectic personas to this long-abandoned location.

Fassie the bartender is prepping some helpful beverages for our heroes next run

But, before we go further… how about a drink? The Saloon is the player’s hub. There, they can interact with heroes, purchase upgrades, and be serenaded by Lera Lynn as she performs an original soundtrack for all those about to die. Thankfully, the local bartender is there to spice things up a bit with, you guessed it, beverages. As you play Endless Dungeon, you will find different recipes that can drastically alter your runs and how you play – like massively boosting the power of your turrets – with the trade-off of causing them to damage themselves; or disabling ever-important medkits and healing yourself by shoving enemies with Bloody Melee instead.

The hero selection screen: you’ll need to assemble your squad before exploring the station!

Now that your heroes are juiced up (literally), let’s talk guns and boomsticks. Each of Endless Dungeon’s eight unlockable heroes have its own unique playstyle and skills for you to take advantage of: whether you roll as the tank, support class, or DPS-guru, there is a hero for you. 

But kitting out your hero doesn’t end there; while exploring, your hero can find new weapons that may be better suited for your current enemy class. For instance, a gun with fire damage will be stronger against bugs but weak against blurs. While in the Saloon, don’t forget to visit the gunsmith and spend your meta-progression currency to unlock

Gran Turismo players! The 1.31 update for Gran Turismo 7 arrives today March 29 at 10pm PST* / March 30 at 6am BST / 2pm JST.

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Introduction of 5 new cars

Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM ‘19

A DTM machine with 2 victories in the Class 1 era.

In 2019, Audi introduced six of these RS 5 DTMs into the series in their works teams. With customer teams also added to the mix, the RS 5 DTMs were a force to be reckoned with, but the car that showed the most outstanding performance among all of them was car number 33, driven by ace driver René Rast. With victory after victory from the opening rounds, it finished the season with a pole to win in the final round of Hockenheim in race 2, winning against Nico Müller also in a RS 5. Not only did it take the championship title this year, Team Rosberg with René also won the team title, making car number 33 an iconic double title winner. The final round of the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) was a mixed class race hosted together with Japan’s Super GT GT500 class machines, and an interleague match was hosted in Japan. However, the outbreak of Covid-19 prompted Audi to withdraw from the DTM competition. Class 1 regulations ended after only 2 seasons as a result. The Audi RS 5 was a car that truly embodied the ambition and sparkle of the short-lived Class 1 regulations and has made its mark in motorsports history.

Porsche 959 ‘87

A four-wheel drive road car that shines bright in automotive history.

This was a design study of a four-wheel drive road car that was being developed for competition in the “Group B” top category of the WRC (World Rally Championship), introduced in 1982. After this study was revealed 2 years later in 1985, the road-going version of this model was unveiled – The Porsche 959. While it carried over the basic structure of the Porsche 911, it was packed with revolutionary technology. The engine was a 2,850 cc twin turbocharged