PlayStation 4 PS4 Firmware Update 3.00 2

The gaming gods have listened, and this is turning out to be the most glorious of birthdays. Not only is Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain currently firmly inserted into this author's PlayStation 4, but Sony has confirmed that the new-gen format's forthcoming firmware update v3.00 will boost the console's cloud storage space to 10GB. That means no more 'Cannot Upload to Online Storage' error messages – well, for now.

There's much more good news, though: you'll now be able to store screenshots in the vastly superior PNG format, which means no more nasty compression. Moreover, a new Communities feature on the system sounds like it's going to allow us to create a Push Square section, where we'll all be able to get together to share screenshots, usernames, and much more. That's going to be a lot of fun.

Other improvements include an Events facility, which will update you on new content and updates to your most played games, YouTube Gaming compatibility, and the ability to favourite friends, which will surely come with online notifications. Last but not least, you'll be able to upload short video clips to Twitter, and both the Now Playing and Live from PlayStation facilities are getting an upgrade. Oh, and emojis are on the way.

It sounds like a pretty fantastic update to us, but we've included the full list of improvements courtesy of the PlayStation Blog for you to peruse. There's no word on a date for this just yet, but the Japanese giant is looking to beta test it soon. What's got you most excited about this system software overhaul? What features are still sorely lacking from Sony's flagship format? Shout and scream in the comments section below.

Update (00:42PM BST): According to the North American PlayStation Blog, the beta will actually start today, but there's no word on Europe. We'll obviously update you as soon as we learn more about when this is kicking off around the globe.

PS4 Firmware Update v3.00 Screenshots (Japanese)

PS4 Firmware Update v3.00 Highlights

  • Events: A new hub for events has been added, giving an overview of activities taking place in the games you play most, as well as official broadcasts. For instance, you may see an update for a double XP weekend, a special enemy appearing at a scheduled time, or seasonal events like in-game towns being decorated for the winter.
  • YouTube live: PS4 owners will be able to live stream gameplay to YouTube. Live streams will be viewable across YouTube, including on the new YouTube Gaming mobile app and website.
  • Online storage capacity increase: PlayStation Plus members' PS4 cloud storage capacity will increase from 1GB to 10GB
  • Favourite Groups: Favourite Groups has been added to the Friends app, letting you add new or existing groups as a Favorite Group and quickly access groups of people you like to play games with frequently. This will make the process of getting a game session up and running even easier.
  • Communities: PS4 users will have the ability to create communities based around shared interests, like games, genres and more. Communities include a message board with general discussion, screenshots shared by players and the ability to join parties or games. If you want to tackle a big multiplayer raid, but don't have enough friends, this could be a great way to connect with other likeminded players.
  • Sharing video clips to Twitter: Users will have the ability to share video clips directly to Twitter. The maximum video length is 10 seconds, but you'll have the ability to trim longer clips.
  • Live from PlayStation: We've added the ability for users to view popular broadcasts, video clips and screenshots on the Live From PlayStation area
  • Screenshots: We've listened to your feedback and we're happy to confirm that PNG format is now an option for Screenshot saves
  • Now Playing: The Now Playing screen will display more information about what your friends are doing, and you'll be able to quickly jump into a party, request a screen share, or jump to PlayStation Store to buy a game your friend is playing.
  • Request to watch: Want to view a friend's gameplay session? Now you can send a 'Request to Watch' notification to a player, which will start a live broadcast or Share Play invitation to the person playing.
  • Stickers: Tired of typing out messages? With this update, you'll be able to send stickers to friends through the messages.

[source blog.eu.playstation.com]