In the age of modern gaming, online multiplayer is more vital than ever. No longer does the average gamer play alone, instead relying increasingly on streaming, communications and chat. Look at the most successful competitive games out there, and imagine how listless and chaotic they’d be without a communication option. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo know how essential chat options become, and offer their own modes of communications for players. However, the PlayStation App is perhaps the best one out there right now.
The app was not always the great tool it once was. A few years earlier, before the advent of commonplace smartphone companion apps, you’d need a keyboard peripheral to painstakingly type with your controller. When the app itself launched, it was quite scattered. There were separate extension apps for different connectivity aspects too, which sounds ludicrous now. Imagine needing a separate app for your gaming history and trophies, and a separate one for chats. It was only fairly recent that Sony unified these elements into one killer app: the PlayStation App for iOS and Android. The new app has an intuitive UI, resembling the PS5’s. And now, it packs another little-known feature that gamers will love.
When chatting with friends over PSN, players on PS4 and PS5 can send game-specific emojis and stickers
The biggest quality-of-life feature Sony has quietly rolled out recently is the ability to converse without simple text limitations. They know players over PSN typically converse about their gaming habits, and favorite titles. So, they smartly enabled the usage of game-exclusive stickers. Want to talk to your friend, who you have bonded with over your mutual love of The Last of Us? They have you covered:
You can send it to the chat, to full effect!
Here’s a few more you can use:
What’s more, the stickers themselves come loaded with interacting features. When using the PlayStation App, using your phone’s additional features shortcut (pressing an Options button, holding down on the sticker, etc) triggers a new window. This window serves as an information panel, bearing a short description of the game and its content.
This handy little feature may seem superfluous in well-known and recognizable AAA titles that Sony is famous for. But you never know in case a user needs a slight little push to pick up and try that really famous game that PlayStation gamers love. This nifty little popout can make all the difference in appealing to users wooed by the novelty.
While the feature is currently only available on the PlayStation App for now, it opens a plethora of gaming options in the future
The stickers sadly haven’t made it to console chat just yet. To be fair, it’s not like many players even use the default console chat, typing away slowly and clumsily with a controller meant more for gaming than painstaking typing on an onscreen keyboard. That is exactly why Sony and Microsoft launched smartphone companion apps for their online chat services. It is certainly quite easy to set aside the gamepad between matches and pull out your phone to congratulate your teammate on the MVP rank. Therefore, adding the stickers option to the console is probably at the bottom of the list of priorities for Sony right now.
However, it sure is a great idea that other systems could learn from. Why make a barebones chat platform that cannot hold a candle to conventional texting options? Instead, we should all look forward to cute Masterchief and Mario stickers when gaming online.