Sony said it was coming, and now it seems to be here. Several players say they have been guest to a PS5 cloud gaming public beta test, one that streams games to a PS5 at up to 4K resolution.
We didn’t know previously that Sony would stream in 4K, and it could be a big deal no matter what “4K” actually stands for.
While we have yet to confirm the public beta with our contacts at Sony, several users on the popular gaming forum ResetEra says they’re in, and ArashiGames says you can choose from 720p, 1080, 1440p, and 2160p (4K) resolutions, with games automatically uploading your saves to the cloud so you can pick up and play.
While cloud saves might seem like bets on the table, that hasn’t always been the case: early versions of Sony’s PlayStation Now cloud gaming service understandably didn’t have an initial way to import game saves from your PS3, For example.
While it is not clear if the “maximum resolution” of 4K refers to the lend resolution (i.e. game graphics) or the transmission resolution (the actual size of images streamed to your TV), either would help due to the way games are streamed in the cloud. Images need to be compressed quite small in order for them to rapidly shoot across the internet 60 times per second (or more), and that compression can often manifest as an ugly haze over what is otherwise a perfectly playable game.
Streaming at 4K resolution helps fix that, even if you don’t have a 4K display, as we explained when testing Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Google Stadia. (Both services offered 4K streaming, but asked you to pay extra for it.)
Games Arashi Says games available include God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Fortnite, Fall Guys, Destiny 2, Returnal, Demon’s Souls, Death Stranding, Sackboy A Big Adventure, Destruction All Stars and Fall Guys — with essays available for Resident Evil Village and Murderer of demons also.
Back in June, when Sony first said it planned to test PS5 game streaming, the company suggested that the test would include “PS5 titles from the PlayStation Plus game catalog and game tests, as well as compatible digital PS5 titles that Players Own” and that it would add additional games over time.
Sony also wrote that “we’re looking forward to sharing more details when we’re ready, including a release time frame.” However, it looks like maybe the company didn’t share that!
