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Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection PS4 & PS5 features revealed

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Aspyr is proud to announce, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the beloved Star Wars Battlefront series, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 will soon be able to play the classic Star Wars Battlefront games online and offline in a complete collection.

On March 14, PlayStation players can get back online and fight in iconic battles from across the Star Wars galaxy.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection PS4 & PS5 features revealed

Classic Games, Bonus Content, And much more

What’s included? Let’s take a look:

Star Wars Battlefront (Classic)

  • Includes Bonus Map: Jabba’s Palace

Star Wars Battlefront II

  • Includes Bonus Maps: Bespin: Cloud City, Rhen Var: Harbor, Rhen Var: Citadel, and Yavin 4: Arena 
  • Includes Bonus Heroes: Asajj Ventress & Kit Fisto

Bonus content!? That’s right. Classic bonus content has been restored, included, and is premiering for the first time on PlayStation.

We welcome Jedi General from the Clone Wars and member of the Jedi High Council, Kit Fisto as a playable hero. Kit’s special abilities are Saber Throw and Force Orb, making him a fierce contender in Hero Assault for hybrid ranged/melee players.

Villains fans, don’t feel left out. We’ve also brought the Linksaber wielding Sith assassin, Asajj Ventress. Asajj’s special abilities are Star Blades and Force push, making her a great choice for close-ranged encounters and quick escapes.

With all original maps and the new bonus maps, we are packed with fan-favorite planets from across the Star Wars universe.

Battlefront Classic: 17 total maps
Battlefront II: 22 ground maps, 6 space maps, and 9 more space maps exclusive to the single-player campaign and galactic conquest

(Up to) 64 Player Online Multiplayer is Back

We’re excited to announce

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure revealed for PS5

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Hello! Nick Suttner here. You may have seen my name on PlayStation Blog before in various guises (most recently, as the writer behind Carto), but I’m super excited to be coming to you today as co-founder of the small studio Furniture & Mattress, to reveal our debut PS5 game Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure.

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure revealed for PS5

What the heck is role-puzzling, you may ask? Well, we’ve spent the past few years building the kind of world that you’d expect to find in a role-playing game: curious towns and moody wilderness areas to explore, quirky characters to meet, and weirdo monsters to battle in dungeons. But in Arranger, everything is expressed through the language of a puzzle game. Hence: role-puzzling!

The entire game world exists on a sprawling, interconnected gameplay grid, and as our protagonist Jemma moves around, everything on the same row or column moves with her. She can also loop herself – or other objects – from one edge of the grid to the other. Over the course of our 8-10 hour, single-player adventure, we regularly twist and subvert these simple mechanics in a host of interesting ways, trying to keep things breezy while still providing some satisfying head-scratchers. (And several assist options to skip past them if you’re not in the mood.) 

Of course, no RPG would be worth its mettle without a satisfying story. And like our puzzles, we’ve tried to craft something fun and light-hearted, with some challenging themes and ideas if you’re open to them. Foremost, it’s a journey of self-discovery, as small-town misfit Jemma heads out beyond the confines of her hometown for the first time – only to find an exciting, yet divided world, overrun by the immovable force known as static. Can she disrupt a stagnating world, and shake things up a bit?

Admittedly, we didn’t keep all of the RPG tropes. We don’t have any XP to accrue, or new powers to unlock that gate progression – instead, we supply a regular stream of new ways to test your understanding of the mechanics. And there’s no in-game inventory to manage, either – everything you’ll ne

Pulse Elite wireless headset launches starting today: the starter’s guide to PlayStation’s latest line of innovative audio products

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Launching today, our latest wireless headset, Pulse Elite, brings crisp, immersive audio to the gaming experience on the PS5 console; to PlayStation Link supported devices including PS5, PC, Mac, and PlayStation Portal remote player; and to Bluetooth compatible devices such as smartphones and tablets. Pulse Elite follows the launch of our first wireless earbuds, Pulse Explore, with both audio devices featuring planar magnetic drivers to further enhance the PS5 console’s Tempest 3D AudioTech. When combined with PlayStation Link, the planar drivers precisely deliver the output of the 3D audio algorithms directly to the player’s ear without loss, and nearly no distortion or delay. 

Pulse Elite wireless headset launches starting today: the starter’s guide to PlayStation’s latest line of innovative audio products

Caption: Learn more about all the features to expect from the Pulse Elite wireless headset.

Here’s our quick-start guide on setting up and using the Pulse Elite wireless headset, along with Pulse Explore wireless earbuds.

Set up and use sidetone and 3D audio features on PS5

A tour of the headset appears when you first connect the Pulse Elite wireless headset or Pulse Explore wireless earbuds to your PS5 console via the included PlayStation Link USB adapter. Before diving into a game, I recommend personalizing 3D audio settings and adjusting sidetone volume (changing this adjusts how loudly you hear your own voice in your ear when you talk). It’s also possible to create a custom name for the headset, with standard letters, symbols, and even emoji.

After the tour, you can change settings at any time while the headset is connected by navigating to the Settings menu and selecting Accessories, followed by Pulse Elite wireless headset. 

Both the Pulse Elite wireless headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds also support Mono Audio when connected to a PS5, which can be toggled within the Settings menu.

Access the Sound Quick Menu on PS5 with a one-button shortcut

For an even quicker way to access settings within a game, press the PlayStation Link button three times in quick succession to access the Sound Quick Menu. The PlayStation Link button can be found on the right side of

How Final Fantasy VII Rebirth harnesses immersive PS5 technology

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Your adventure beyond Midgar begins in just over a week when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches on PS5 February 29. You may have taken your first steps into that wider world already, thanks to the recent demo, or marveled at that expanse via the State of Play dedicated to the game. And what sights there are. Sprawling, densely detailed open areas and cityscapes, redesigned character models, reimagined threats and new enemies, side-quests and mini-games galore. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth packs a lot in. 

To understand how this evocative experience is being achieved on PS5, we turned to the action RPG’s creators, which include the majority of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s development team. Looking under the hood with us? Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi, who has been on the FFVII Remake project since the start, to talk us through how the studio brought the world of Gaia to life. 

How Final Fantasy VII Rebirth harnesses immersive PS5 technology

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

With SSDs improving data loading speeds and allowing necessary resources to be loaded instantly, we felt that significant changes were needed in the system design to ensure a smooth gaming experience without any loading times for players. In fact, to take advantage of the high-speed SSDs in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the graphics pipeline and asset streaming system have been revamped from those of the previous title.

What learnings did you take from developing Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade to help you develop Final Fantasy VII Rebirth? 

From the beginning, we were conscious of the disc size for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and we made it an absolute requirement for the disc size to be within 150G— even including the world map—while still allowing for cinematic locations to exist as they did in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. (Intergrade has a disc size of about 80GB.)  For texture compression, experiencing the practical use of Oodle Kraken* and Oodle Texture** in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade was very helpful in planning the disc size for this game. While the PS5 is equipped with an SSD which dramatically improves loading speed, there is still a limit to the size of the original disc that can be read, so this technology is truly indispensable.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was created as a PS5 game first and foremost, so how did you take advant

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot — First look at Goku’s Next Journey DLC gameplay

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Gear up for your first look into the gameplay of the sixth DLC of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, officially named Goku’s Next Journey. The DLC retraces the steps of the last episode of Dragon Ball Z, which takes place ten years after the victory of the Saiyan warriors over Kid Buu at the hands of Goku and Vegeta. In this episode, the Martial Arts World Tournament is the main event, gathering all the earth’s warriors together.

While playing this DLC, you can encounter familiar characters who have aged and moved on in their lives, as well as Pan, Goku’s granddaughter. As usual with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLCs, you will experience first-hand the events and battles shown in the series, but also have access to original dialogues, storylines, and more.

Together with the main events of the DLC, you will have access to new sub-quests that will have new, unique rewards. Today, we will give you a sneak peek at one of these Side Quests: A Day in the Krillin household.

The quest revolves around recovering the lost necklace of 18, now Krillin’s wife, after their daughter Marron returns from a shopping spree. True to the tradition of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, this quest allows you to peek into the daily lives of the characters living in the Dragon Ball world.

As they search for the necklace, Goku and Krillin discover that it has simply fallen while 18 was returning to Krillin but has been found and taken by two suspicious men. Once confronted, they will use a capsule to summon a squad of Skull Robos, attacking Goku as Krillin chases after the men.

Once defeated, the quest will be complete, and the rewards will be given.

While you will not face any major super-villain or world-ending threat like Majin Buu, but who knows, maybe even harder challenges will await you after the World Tournament?

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The end of the quest and what makes it unique is that the epilogue allows you to see deeper into the characters’ feelings, which is a point of view that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has at its heart. On this occasion, Android 18 describes her feelings for Krillin, and we can see how much she truly cares about him.

Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 479: Abubakar Salim Talks Tales of Kenzera: Zau

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Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or download here


Howdy! This week Abubakar Salim of Surgent Studios stops by to discuss the upcoming platformer Tales of Kenzera: Zau. Plus the team talks Helldivers 2 and Tekken 8.

Stuff We Talked About

  • Pacific Drive – PS5, PS4
  • Foamstars Foam Technology Deep-Dive Blog
  • Ultros Developer Interview Blog
  • MLB 24 Negro Leagues Season 2
  • PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for February – Need for Speed Unbound, The Outer Worlds, Tales of Arise, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and more
  • Pacific Drive Dev Interview Blog
  • Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Dev Profile Blog
  • Interview w/ Abubakar Salim (begins at 08:55)
  • Helldivers 2 – PS5
  • Tekken 8 – PS5

The Cast

Share of the Week: Romantic

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Last week, we asked you share romantic moments from a game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

bluegreenherb shares Tifa and Aerith each holding one of Cloud’s arms in Final Fantasy VII Remake

Amianan_NiRaGuB shares Astarion lovingly gazing up at the player character who romanced him in Baldur’s Gate 3

DEX_exiled shares Zo and Varl from Horizon Forbidden West sharing a sweet kiss

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JarrinWasHere shares Garrus pulling Shepard into a dramatic dip in Mass Effect Legendary Edition

K_Alien121 shares Dion and Terence holding each other close in Final Fantasy XVI

Lny_Trpr_EE7 shares Catwoman and Batman sharing a moment in Batman Arkham Knight

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:  Best Friends
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on February 21, 2024

Next week, we’re shining a light on gaming besties. Share a pair of gaming best friends or close companions from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

PS VR2 FPS Hubris introduces Arena game mode in today’s free update 

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We’re excited to announce a new free addition to Hubris, now available at PlayStation Store for PlayStation VR2. Introducing a thrilling Arena mode where you’ll encounter multiple rounds of Uron invaders and have to navigate through a closed combat map, all set in a never-before-revealed environment. 

Players will have to shoot, jump, climb and move through a map, set in a training ground deep in OOO (Order of Objectivity)-controlled territory. While you’ll encounter diverse combinations of enemies familiar from the game’s core experience, the revamped setting and enemy encounters provide an entirely fresh gameplay experience. And if you want to challenge yourself even more the new game mode has three different difficulty tiers to play through.

But that’s not all – we’ve dialed up the gameplay by adding some weapon powers and upgrades which can be earned by completing waves. 

This adventure unfolds outside the main storyline and enables us to push the boundaries. This game mode gives players access to upgrades that would typically break the game’s balance. Grenades are also newly added to this game mode so you have a better way to deal with grouped enemies, and let’s be honest – there is no better feeling than throwing a well-placed grenade to blow up a huge amount of enemies in one blow.


New mode details from developer Hubris


“We recognized the potential in the mechanics we integrated into Hubris and seized the opportunity to offer our fans something new, exciting, and fresh. When designing the levels for Hubris, our focus was on ensuring they were understandable and accessible. Our goal was to guide the player from point A to point B in an engaging manner, with a clear flow, while also maintaining a balanced level of challenge.

But this custom-built level forces players to move, climb and jump in all directions, reach a defence point and eliminate enemies before succumbing to their attacks. The new game mode starts off relatively easy but quickly escalates with Uron threats emerging from various directions. Only the most skilled players will survive more than a couple of waves especially on hard difficulty. This level is designed with numerous pathways and options for maneuvering between points A and B, emphasizing the importance of strategic movement in overcoming the obstacles posed by the Uron forces.“

– Elie Van Ravels, Game Designer, Cyborn BV

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Looking ahead, we’re loo

Tales of Kenzera: Zau creator interview — Finding the beauty of creation in grief

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I recently had the pleasure to speak with Abubakar Salim, founder of Surgent Studios and creative director of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, about founding his gaming studio and how his childhood, grief, and becoming a father were essential building blocks in the development of Tales of Kenzera: Zau coming to PS5 April 23. Listen to the full interview below.

PlayStation Blog: We’ve been curious about your game ever since you announced it on stage at The Game Awards. How do you feel now that all of it is out there in the open?

Abubakar Salim: Terrified, absolutely terrified. It’s one of those things where we’ve been building it behind the scenes for so long, and you reveal it to people, and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, wow, you’ve been building this. It looks so great.’ And you’re like, yes, so much blood, sweat, and tears went into this, but I’m super happy that it’s being received so well.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is your first game. You’re originally more of a gamer, so what was the journey there?

I got into video games from my father. Essentially, he introduced me to them, and he would play a lot. Well, he would watch me play a lot, and he would dive in now and then. It’s always been my medium of taking in stories. I didn’t know you could have a career or work in games. It was this thing that you put a CD in a PlayStation, and gremlins work their magic inside. 

It was one of those where it didn’t cross my mind that you could do it as a career. So I went into acting because I’ve always loved telling stories. Then, I started working in games, and Assassin’s Creed Origins was the first game that I did. I was a massive fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. So then, to be in it was mind-blowing. And that gave me the behind-the-scenes of, oh, wow, there are actual people making this stuff.

You’ve said the game’s gated exploration is well-suited to discussing grief. Can you explain that?

The beauty of these Castlevania or Metroid-like games is you throw the player into a map that they have no idea about, that they’re lost. They’re trying to gauge an idea of what it is, and the longer they spend in it, the more comfortable they feel, but at the same time, it’s still dangerous. And I think that is, to me, the perfect explanation or personification of grief. 

You learn to live with it, and it’s not a bad thing. You then find your boundaries, and you play with them. I’ve accepted that, yeah, I will sometimes feel sad, and sometimes I feel angry. But sometimes, I’ll feel an element of relief and freedom, and that’s okay. At first, it’s a bit alien, but after a while, it’s like, Alright, cool. Let’s play. 

The game is inspired by Bantu mythology. Can you tell us more about that mythology and why you chose it?&nbs

Dev interview: How Pacific Drive tunes up the survival genre with a station wagon

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We’ve all wondered why no one gets in a car and drives away from the terror in scary movies and games. Pacific Drive by Ironwood Studios lets us live out that scenario. This upcoming first-person survival adventure drives a customizable station wagon into the genre.

Ahead of the February 22 launch date, we spoke with the game’s director, Alexander Dracott, about the inspiration behind this genre-twisting game and its development journey.

PlayStation Blog: What was the inspiration behind Pacific Drive?

Alexander Dracott: The initial idea goes back to some of my hobbies and growing up driving station wagons to go camping and out into the woods of the Pacific Northwest. The seed came from the things I saw driving alone in the woods, fog, and rain, seeing things like mining towns that haven’t seen the light of day. The game started as simple test car in the woods, and as we started inserting more mechanics, we decided you should be able to turn the car off and on. It should have gas like you should have to refuel your car. It became apparent that there’s this overlap between the maintenance of a car you would expect and the item juggling you want from a survival game. What we ended up doing is taking the pressure that is always on the player in a lot of survival games and pushed it onto the car, and it clicked. You’re forming this relationship with this car that becomes your protector.

Where did the idea of the Olympic Exclusion Zone come from, and how does it contribute to the game’s mechanics?

I’ve always been a big fan of zoned stories and players being isolated, but in a space filled with interesting mechanics. For example, a lot of the enemy anomalies aren’t zombies that you just shoot. They’re more interesting and unique, and discovering what they are is part of the experience. The idea behind the Exclusion Zone, something that the government has walled off, instantly clicked because it gave us the freedom to both tell an interesting story and build this world while also filling it with things like those anomalies that people are going to have to learn and discover through the game’s mechanics.

Why did the team decide on this smaller-scale gameplay loop versus a free-roam open-world title?

Initially, we were considering something that was a little bit more like a traditional survival game on a relatively large map. Our maps are big because you have a car and go quick. We found that while all of our survival mechanics were working, we wanted those rest stops. We wanted those breaks like looting and fixing up your car. With that came the birth of the garage as a permanent place that you could go to and fix up your car, take the time, and engage with the different systems that are in the game. That cemented into this idea of, “Okay, I’ve got my garage, but now I can go out and take these trips to other parts of the game world.”

Was it difficult to build so many mechanics around a car?

Pacific Drive is a big game full of systems that

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