Hello everyone! Over the last few months, we have been having a great time seeing you play Returnal and learning about your experiences, and hearing all the great stories of how players are overcoming the myriad challenges of Atropos. It’s had a fantastic reception, and we are truly pleased and grateful to see people having so much fun with the game. Here at Housemarque we’ve been listening to all your feedback too, and so it is with great satisfaction that I’m here to announce our update 2.0, launching today.

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Suspend Cycle

One of the main features of this update is the Suspend Cycle functionality, which will allow you to pause your cycle to be continued later, letting you exit the game and turn off your console without losing your progress in that session. The structure of the game remains unchanged, so this functionality is not a traditional mid-game “Save Game” option: by suspending the cycle, Returnal will simply create a single use suspend point, and once you resume playing the suspend point is deleted and cannot be used again. Your game will continue directly from the moment you left it, and if you want to suspend the cycle again, your progress will be captured from that new point onwards. There are some limitations in place – for example, players won’t be able to create a suspend point during Boss battles, cinematics, first-person sequences or during intense combat scenarios – as we felt there are certain moments in Returnal that are best experienced unfragmented to preserve the intended challenge and flow.

With this approach, we can keep the roguelike spirit and “high stakes” commitment to your run intact, while still providing some quality-of-life convenience for players who like to experience Returnal in shorter bursts. So next time you’re deep into a lengthy session on Atropos and life comes knocking at your door, you’ll be able to simply Suspend Cycle and jump back in at a more convenient time.

The Call of Duty franchise has always been about great gunplay, underlined by the diversity of weapon classes and multiples of attachments creating a vast breadth of options to choose from before heading into battle.  But experienced players know it’s more than how much damage a particular weapon does, or how quickly the downsight speed of another allows you to strengthen your K/D ratio – – how a weapon feels to a particular player has as much to do with success as anything. 

At Sledgehammer Games, we’re happy to let PlayStation 5 players know about how Call of Duty: Vanguard is going to leverage the features of the DualSense wireless controller to elevate the sense of immersion and bring an array of tactile experiences to different weapons in the game.  In a game about warfare on a global scale, the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers of the DualSense controller provide us an opportunity to bring that experience to life like no prior generation of console could. 

Here are some examples of what PS5 players can expect to experience on Call of Duty: Vanguard when it launches on November 5:

The Art of the Trigger Pull

Our goal in Call of Duty: Vanguard was to simulate the trigger weight of real-world weapons, and to give the player the opportunity to find the trigger pull that works for them in the game. This is greatly aided by the feedback applied by the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers.  

There are several stages of a trigger pull in the game: the “take-up” or distance a trigger travels once a player starts to press it.  Then there’s the “break” – – or the point at which the shot is fired once a correct amount of pressure is applied.  Then there’s the “over-travel” which is how far the trigger pulls after the break point, and finally, the “trigger reset”, which stops automatic firing and resets the break.

It’s at the “break” stage that the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers apply varying degrees of feedback to help create the feeling of weight on the trigger.  This feedback is applied differently for different weapons, creating a more accurate sense of trigger weight for each.

For instance, if you’re running around with a 1911 sidearm you’ll feel a moderate amount of tension as you get to the break point, but it won’t hold the same weight as that M1 Garand marksman rifle:

Additionally, what this means is that you are really going to feel the power of your LMG as you’re blasting through those doors and walls in Vanguard’s new reactive environments …

Much more than you would, say, the fast, rolling jolts as you’re spraying fire into an enemy’s direction with your SMG or even an AR, like the STG:

Hi everyone! I’m Stephen Rhodes, narrative lead on Call of Duty: Vanguard. With me is Robert Lo, senior narrative designer at Sledgehammer Games.  We’re excited to be able to give PlayStation players an even deeper look at the human element that makes up the heart of Call of Duty: Vanguard, especially as the game’s release quickly approaches on November 5.  

Below we provide insight into a couple of the lead characters from Vanguard’s single-player Campaign, who will also be playable in Multiplayer: Arthur Kingsley and Polina Petrova.  Then, we debut a couple of characters from Vanguard’s Multiplayer we have yet to detail anywhere else: Daniel Take Yatsu and Padmavati Balan.  We will also be showcasing for the first time the Operator Bio videos for these four characters.

With that, let’s jump in.

The Humanity at the Heart of Call of Duty: Vanguard

Vanguard’s campaign is a story about a group of diverse soldiers who put aside their differences for a common cause: stopping a secret Nazi plot in the final days of WWII.  Their mission also represents the origins of a new kind of combat unit that moved and fought unlike any one before it: the Special Forces. 

Even though it’s a larger-than-life story, at Vanguard’s heart is a universal experience many of us have lived: finishing a tough job with a band of coworkers you didn’t choose and making true friendships and lasting bonds along the way.

Writing Vanguard’s campaign was a meaningful and rewarding experience for all of us on the narrative team. I’ve always had an interest in WWII, and it was exciting to do in-depth research with our fantastic historical consultant Marty Morgan. With his boundless knowledge, we were able to uncover many of the lesser-known stories and heroes to draw inspiration from. 

As writers, we also had the opportunity to write the distinct voices of characters who came from very specific locales at a specific moment in history.  For our British characters, that meant we had to delve into the Britishisms of the era, and for our Australian lead character, Lucas Riggs, it meant exploring the truly broad canvas of Aussie language.  Each of our heroes has a singular way of talking that sounds uniquely like them, and that’s the result of some careful research and close listening. 

Our goal was to tell a unique and refreshing story set within the conflict. While there might be elements of history you’re familiar with, this is a story that is unique to Call of Duty.

Today we’re extremely excited to share with you details about some of Vanguard’s characters, and provide insight into how we created their distinct personalities. We’ll discuss who these characters are, what they mean to us, and how they fit into Vanguard’s overall narrative.

We’re going to focus our time on four of our heroic operators. Two you will meet during Vanguard’s epic campaign, and the other two can be found only within our diverse Multiplayer roster. Let’s get started!

The Stories Behind Four Multiplayer Operators 

Arthur 

Arthur Kingsley is the leader of the Special Operations Task Force sent into Germany to uncover the truth surrounding Projekt Phoenix. What’s exceptional about Arthur as a leader is not his ability to comm

There’s nothing better than a good rhythm match with friends. We’re excited to announce that Multiplayer just landed in Beat Saber! Challenge your friends or random opponents from all around the world and compete together playing your favorite songs in private or public matches with up to 5 people together*. Choose songs from any of our OSTs, other free, base-game songs or slash the beats from our music packs brought to you by international chart-topping artists. 

Customize your avatar so you can be 100% you… or maybe create your futuristic virtual alter ego? Before you join, go to avatar settings and set up your avatar to express your unique personality and style. We have many customizations to choose from.

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But that’s not all, with Multiplayer mode, we are also bringing a lobby and arena-like environment which transports you and your challengers into a monumental world of competition. Are you ready for the contest? If not, you can just sit back and watch the competition heat up as an inactive player watching the stadium from above.

Through the development, we kept adding new tweaks and improvements which are launching today as part of this update and will improve your gaming experience, for example:

• Multiplayer Badges: How did everyone do in the match? See who was the most precise slicer or the slowest one. Everyone gets the badge they deserve. 
• Exciting result screen: Enjoy the fireworks while celebrating on the winner’s podium next to each other. 
• Possibility to set custom colors in Multiplayer: Choose your favorite custom colors for cubes and sabers.

As part of this update, we’re also launching a Halloween special – a brand new free song, “Spooky Beat” by Jaroslav Beck set in a Halloween environment. You can also select this track in Multiplayer, challenge your friends and have some spooky fun! 

We’d like to thank the PS VR community who have been patiently supporting us since we started the Multiplayer development. It was a complex feature to develop and we’re so happy we can finally share this with all of you and welcome new players online. See you in Multiplayer! 

*PlayStation Plus is required to be able to play Beat Saber Multiplayer.

The open world of Horizon Zero Dawn is a true playground for players. Gallop through the wilds on your trusty Charger to take in the lush environments and vibrant settlements. Embrace your inner hunter and sneak through bandit camps, taking down enemies silently and disable any means for them to call for back-up. Or climb to the highest mountains for gorgeous views and mysterious Old World secrets… 

Horizon Forbidden West, our upcoming sequel and continuation of Aloy’s action-packed adventure, is built on the same principles of player freedom; in fact, it was important to the team at Guerrilla to offer even more ways to explore and experience the world.

Spoiler Alert: Please note this article contains some spoilers for Horizon Zero Dawn and its storyline.

Travel through the Forbidden West

In the gameplay trailer, you’ll have seen Aloy using a variety of new tools in the Forbidden West. “Building upon the foundation of Horizon Zero Dawn, we have added a number of new ways to move through the world,” says David McMullen, Lead Systems Designer at Guerrilla. “Aloy can climb freely on and across huge sections of rocky terrain; even more machine types can be used as mounts; grapple points can be found throughout the environment which allows agile vertical traversal; swimming underwater has opened up a whole new aspect of exploration; and gliding with the Shieldwing provides the ultimate view of the beautiful world of Horizon Forbidden West – not to mention a quick way down from great heights!”

Captured on PS5

Before we dive deeper into some of these new mechanics, David will share some insights about the development process, the challenges that come with it, and why it was a goal for the team to increase the amount of player freedom throughout Aloy’s adventure. 

“Our traversal design decisions were always in service of increasing dynamic interactivity with the world around you. This could be to empower the player to manipulate and destroy their environment with a tool like the Pullcaster; or grapple-launching into a glide with the Shieldwing to set yourself up for a strike from above. What excites us most is how our mechanics, new and old, synergistically interact with each other to provide varied and dynamic approaches to any scenario.’ 

‘This wide array of new options also posed challenges to how we think about level design. We need to allow for players to outsmart us, using new moves or tools to bypass some of our challenges in clever and unpredictable ways. Traversal puzzles won’t always have a binary solution; we encourage players to experiment and have fun with the new tools. We will offer a variety of challenges, regardless of playstyle or skill or previous experience in Horizon Zero Dawn.”

And of course, the new features of the PlayStation 5 hardware presented another exciting challenge. While Horizon Forbidden West is developed and published for both PS4 and PS5 from the ground up, there are some highligh

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

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This week, Justin and Sid talk Jett: The Far Shore with Craig Adams of Superbrothers, including how the game leverages the DualSense controller’s unique haptics and adaptive triggers to build immersion and the influences behind the game’s unique aesthetics. Plus: next week’s new release highlights, why Back 4 Blood will make Left 4 Dead fans salivate, and plenty more news you can use. Listen in!

Stuff We Talked About

• Jett: The Far Shore
• Back 4 Blood
• The grand leap from 16-bit to 32-bit gaming
• Battletoads

The Cast

Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE

Tim Turi –  Manager, Content Communications, SIE

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Three iconic cities, three epic stories, one definitive collection. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition includes the genre-defining Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas together — each one enhanced for a new generation and available together for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition will be available digitally on November 11 through the PlayStation Store with a physical release for PlayStation 4 on December 7.

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Experience the games that started it all — introducing unprecedented freedom and immersion through three living, breathing worlds filled with hilarious action, rich, cinematic storytelling, classic characters, and unforgettable music. 

Bringing the classic worlds of Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas to modern PlayStation platforms, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition debuts new GTAV-inspired modern controls, plus across-the-board visual enhancements such as resolution upgrades and improved visual fidelity across the world, and much more to faithfully tune and improve upon all three games, while also maintaining their distinct original aesthetic.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition introduces wide-ranging modern control upgrades, including improvements to targeting and lock-on aiming, updated Weapon and Radio Station Wheels, updated mini-maps with enhanced navigation allowing players to set waypoints to destinations, updated Trophies, and more. 

Additional enhancements across all three titles include a completely rebuilt lighting system; improved shadows, weather, and reflections; upgraded character and vehicle models; along with new higher resolution textures across buildings, weapons, roads, interiors, and more. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition also features a range of environmental upgrades including all new foliage, smoother surfaces, and increased draw distances to provide a new level of depth and clarity throughout the world.

Originally developed by Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition has been adapted to modern platforms by Grove Street Games using Unreal Engine to make these classics more vibrant and more immersive than ever, celebrating the legacy of the series that redefined interactive entertainment and helped propel video games to the center of culture. Stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for more and

Last week, we celebrated PlayStation VR’s 5th anniversary by asking you to share moments from your favorite VR games using #PSshare #PSBlog. From aquatic adventures to moody mysteries, here are this week’s highlights: 

Sefwick shares a twirling ribbon dance from Bound’s VR mode.

akr_gamer shares a moment under the sea in Jupiter & Mars.

Draikin holds tightly to a black cat in Déraciné.

ke_23 stops for a Moogle selfie in Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV.

scottoka1 shares an evil chicken stealing pups to replace its eyes in Trover Saves The Universe.

HarleyNitta7 shares the Dragonborn staring up at the moon in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR.

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: Scary
SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on October 27

Halloween is almost here! Next week we’re ready to be spooked. Share scary moments from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. 

Hello again! Just a quick note to tell you that State of Play returns next Wednesday, October 27 at 2:00pm PT / 10:00pm BST. As usual, you can watch our broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube. Hooray!

This time out, we’ll be focusing on announcements and updates for upcoming third-party releases headed to PS5 and PS4. 

The show is looking to be ~20 minutes or so, and will share new looks at previously announced games, plus a few reveals from our partners around the world. 

See you Wednesday!

Regarding Co-streaming and Video-On-Demand (VOD)

Please note that this broadcast may include copyrighted content (e.g. licensed music) that PlayStation does not control. We welcome and celebrate our amazing co-streamers and creators, but licensing agreements outside our control could interfere with co-streams or VOD archives of this broadcast. If you’re planning to save this broadcast as a VOD to create recap videos, or to repost clips or segments from the show, we advise omitting any copyrighted music.