Sony’s Driving Factor for PS5 Welcome Hub Was Based on How People Turned Off Their Consoles; Reveals 50/50 Split for Rest Mode
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Are you the type of PlayStation 5 gamer that puts the console in Rest mode when logging out? Or do you completely shut the console down after playing games? Which side do you think most gamers fall on?
As it turns out, it’s about even. Sony revealed this in a chat (Game File subscription required) about the PS5’s dashboard with Cory Gasaway, vice president of Product, Game and Player Experiences, Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Sony Reveals PS5 Users 50/50 Split on Putting It on Rest Mode and Turning It Off Completely 
Gasaway was asked what they learned about how people used the PS5 dashboard? How did this influence the ways Sony updated it? Were there features people didn’t use as much as expected that the developers wanted to showcase better? And were there any options that people used more than expected?
According to Gasaway, “We gained a lot of insights about how players interact with their PS5 system between play sessions. A small example is we had an internal hypothesis that far more people would put their console into rest mode than would fully shut it down each time between their play sessions. As it turned out, it was actually about 50/50 between the two options between all our players. So, what that meant was for about 50% of our users, when they booted up, if they were in the US they were landing on our “Explore” page, and if they were outside the US they were landing on the game page for the last game that they have played.”
Continuing with his answer, Gasaway added, “This was the primary driving factor that caused us to look at building out the Welcome hub experience that has now launched globally. The Welcome hub is a dedicated space where players can customize with widgets, allowing them to see information at a glance before they begin their gaming sessions. For players who use rest mode, if they leave their console while in a game, they will still go straight back into that game and play once they get back to their console. But now, for players who shut down their console and boot it back up, they are taken to the Welcome hub to see their customized page that includes game opportunities for them to play, message friends, or do what is important to them at that time.”
- Related Reading: How to Customize the PS5 Welcome Hub to Have Widgets Lined at the Bottom to Let You See Your Wallpaper Better
As someone who almost always puts the PS5 in Rest mode, I thought for sure that most gamers did the same thing. I mean, it hardly draws power and you get the added benefit of having your installed games get updated automatically as well. But it seems most gamers don’t think that way…not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The PS5 Welcome Hub dashboard was introduced in a major system update in September 2024, and this has been a great addition to PlayStation gamers worldwide.
Which side do you fall on? Are you on Team Rest Mode or Team Shut Down? Leave a comment below and let us know.
More PlayStation Reading:
- PlayStation CEO Don’t See Consoles Disappearing Anytime Soon; PS5 Likely to Last Through Next-Gen Similar to PS4
- Report: Sony Bend New IP In-Development Screenshots Surface
- PlayStation Store Holiday Sale Adds More Games Before Promotion Ends This Month
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I unfortunately dont have a PS5 yet… But I think some people that had the initial versions of firmware on the PS5 and had an external game drive were greeted with their external drives corrupted in some way. All my friends that did the Rest Mode had that and others that turned them off didn’t have much of a problem. But after several firmware changes…even today most of them still turn off their PS5 because trust issues with Sony and their error. Only a handful trust the Rest Mode today.
Never happened to me or my few gaming friends. We had the console since launch too.
I’m not a hard core gamer. Seldom multiplayer. Sometimes i don’t use my ps5 for days so i generally turn it off. Few times i will go into rest mode if i need a break and don’t want to go back to auto save (ex Astro Bot). And honestly i don’t pay any attention to the Welcome Screen, probably because i don’t online play.
My tv has that option that when it turns on or off, it does the same for my PS5, so it stays in rest mode for that reason.
I use rest mode but only so I can use remote play. I have an Xbox Backbone and a PS Backbone and use remote play on my phone quite a bit. PS5 has to be on rest mode for it to work though.
I have to fully shut my PS5 down every night, as it’s in the same room that my wife and I sleep in. And if I leave it on I never hear the end of it. “But leaving it in rest mode is better for the console’ has not, thus far, proved a good excuse 😂
Anyone else wondering why you can’t use the controller touchpad to navigate the dashboard…? Seems like an oversight to me….
Team rest mode. I like having automatic updates to my games and system.
Team Rest Mode ALWAYS!!
Better to have games update while I’m not on the console.