Sony Group Corp.‘s SONY PlayStation 5 dashboard introduced a new advertising system that users found increasingly hard to ignore.

This recent update saw game icons on the homepage replaced with promotional content and ads that cannot be disabled without disconnecting from the internet, a move that has sparked a backlash among its core user base, IGN reported.

PS5 Dashboard Promotes Ads On Game Icons

What users initially thought were isolated glitches have become a consistent feature. Now, when users hover over a game icon, instead of seeing the familiar game art, they are shown a promotional video or an advert related to the game.

These ads range from YouTube videos and patch notes to announcements for unrelated games, creating confusion for some.

While this feature was introduced without official mention in the PS5's recent Welcome Hub firmware update, its presence is unmistakable, and for many, unwelcome.

User Backlash: Ads Create Confusion And Frustration

This change is not just an aesthetic annoyance but a practical issue for some users. Many have reported ads for outdated content or entirely different games.

For example, Horizon Zero Dawn players have seen their game icon replaced by an ad for the upcoming Lego Horizon Adventures, leading to potential confusion for those unaware of the new title’s release status.

Similarly, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales forces an advertisement for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was released in June 2023.

Another glaring issue is the advertisement for NBA 2K25's early access feature, which is now nearly a month old.

"There definitely should be a way to disable this," said redditor mikelman999. "I get its usefulness in modern games that are still getting updated, but since it just displays the newest ‘news' item, it's a lot more problematic with older titles. It just ends up covering your screen with irrelevant information that's potentially a decade out of date."

So it turns out that the recent PS5 UI update that let you disable all the advertisements on the dashboard was too good to be true. Now EVERY SINGLE GAME on your homescreen shows you an advertisement in the background with no way to remove them lol https://t.co/Nts6eCq8Eb pic.twitter.com/29p56mYn34

— Earl Turlet (@alfredobofa) September 29, 2024

An Unwelcomed Change Without User Control

The PlayStation dashboard has long-featured ads, typically confined to the PlayStation Store, but the new homepage integration is a departure from the norm.

While Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT Xbox dashboard also includes ads, users point out that Xbox supports themes that take precedence over the background, allowing for more customization — a feature the PS5 lacks.

Photo: Shutterstock.