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This fall, Sony will remove a PS5 feature that no one knew existed. This feature has rarely been used by any PlayStation gamer ever since the latest console hit the market.
Sony has announced the removal of the Accolades feature on the consoles via a notice on the support page of PlayStation's official website.
What were Accolades on the PS5?
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Most PS5 users are being introduced to the Accolades feature the day Sony announced its retirement. The company likely expected more players to use the feature when they introduced it in 2020, but their expectations were dashed.
The Accolades feature allows online multiplayer gamers to reward other players as a token of their appreciation for the latter's gameplay tactics and style. This feature would have been welcoming to opponents and teammates alike were it more popular.
Apart from Accolades, Sony introduced several other UI features through which multiplayer gamers could communicate and socialize with each other. A worthy mention is Cards, which is used for the following purposes:
- Suggest activities to players on a multiplayer map
- Jump to certain parts of the game
- Guide other players
How Accolades worked in PS5
Players can only use the Accolades feature in online multiplayer matches with random matchmaking. There are a few things players need to keep in mind while using the feature, which are as follows:
- You can only give a maximum of three accolades per match
- You cannot reward an Accolade to a friend
- You cannot reward an Accolade to the same player twice within 12 hours
Accolades, as a feature, sounds like a good idea. This feature can be creatively used by gamers to socialize and make more friends in an online game. It can also be used to provide feedback to players.
Sony introduced the feature to encourage friendly behavior in-game. On a related note, there have also been recent developments in PlayStation Studios-owned Bungie, where the developers reduced communication among players following excessive toxic behavior, including online threats.
A feature similar to Accolades could thus be implemented across PlayStation-owned multiplayer titles to improve player experience.
Twitter confirms that players had no idea of the feature
Sony, when introducing this feature, perhaps fell short while marketing it. This was proven by various comments on social media, which demonstrated that people were unaware of the feature until the announcement of its retirement.
The console manufacturer also did not push its usage in multiplayer titles, which might have set Accolades up for failure right from the start.
The user who reported the feature's retirement themselves admitted that they were unaware of it.
Others also put in their two cents:
Accolades in PS5 were an underutilized feature. Thus, Sony is headed in the right direction by discontinuing it. This will help the console manufacturer free up space and use it to develop and maintain features that gamers actually care about.
