Released in beta earlier this year, PlayStation Tournaments is now rolling out to all PS5 console owners. According to a recent PlayStation Blog (opens in new tab) post, the tournaments suite aims to streamline competitive play and remove common barriers that can make competitive gaming tournaments inaccessible to the average player. PlayStation Tournaments is housed on-console, meaning you can participate without needing to download a separate client or visit a third-party website. A similar feature was released for the PS4 in 2016, but ahead of its launch on the latest generation of PlayStation hardware, some improvements have been made. These include a simplified sign-up process, more easily discoverable tournaments, and real-time match updates via console notifications. The PlayStation Tournaments UI has also been refreshed. To mark the feature’s release, Sony has confirmed official tournaments for a trio of games: FIFA 23, NBA 2K23 and Guilty Gear. Plus, a new Win-A-Thon (opens in new tab) promotion has been launched on both PS5 and PS4 which runs through December. This competition gives PlayStation gamers the chance to win prizes such as the DualSense Edge controller by increasing their rank on a leaderboard. Rank is increased by participating in specific tournaments. While PlayStation Tournaments is hosted directly on the PS5 console, Sony has also launched a new Discord community hub (opens in new tab). Here the most active participants will be able to connect and engage in good-natured rivalries — there’s a blanket ban on trash-talking, so you’ve been warned. The server will also host interviews with major figures in the Esports community, as well as offer access to special content. Sony hasn’t confirmed what this content will be as of yet.
How to access PlayStation Tournaments on PS5
Accessing PlayStation Tournaments on your PS5 takes just seconds. First, you need to select a participating game from your PS5 home screen, for example, FIFA 23 or NBA 2K23. Next press the down-directional button on your controller’s D-pad. You should now see a list of upcoming tournaments for that specific game. Just click register on any tournaments you want to enter. You’ll get a notification when the tournament is about to start. That’s all it takes to enter a PlayStation Tournament and start competing against the world. The feature is still in its infancy, so as of right now the number of participating games is a little small. But the core functionality of entering a tournament is impressively streamlined. Now we just need more games involved — we’d love to see tournament support for popular online games such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Rocket League. And the good news is that Sony has already hinted that additional games will be incorporated into PlayStation Tournaments in the future.
