Sony has updated its important notices page today to tell PlayStation 5 users that the console’s Accolades feature will, starting this fall, “no longer be supported”, citing that it “hasn’t seen the level of usage that we had planned”. Like most PS5 users, this was the first time I heard that the console had a built-in multiplayer feedback system.
The accolades are a feature on the PlayStation 5 which allows players to praise other players for their performance in multiplayer matches. After completing a match, players can anonymously send badges to others they wish to recognize for things like being “helpful”, “welcoming” or a “good sport”. You can’t spam them, however, or artificially inflate your friends’ virtual commendation collections, as you can’t send accolades to your friends or anyone you’ve already complimented in the last 12 hours.
Despite its plans to discontinue the feature, Sony”[encourages] the community to continue sending positive messages to each other. There’s a great joke here about how players don’t like accolades in multiplayer games, but there’s a better explanation for why accolades were so underused: few people knew. It wasn’t a feature that Sony advertised very well, and many multiplayer games like Surveillance and Final Fantasy XIV already have built-in recommender systems. And despite the console maker’s recent announcement forays into bolstering PlayStation’s online gaming offerings and capabilities, the PlayStation 5 isn’t currently the platform I associate with a satisfying online experience. If I wanted to raid FFXIVthat’s what my gaming PC is for.
But don’t worry, PlayStation owners: you’ll have plenty of new PlayStation 5 social features soon. Last Thursday, Sony announced that it would open a beta mode to test screen sharing, game join notifications, and the ability to send stickers and voice messages. Some of them even sound great. I hope they are implemented in a way that allows me to remember that they exist.
