New PS5 Feature Finally Tracks Time Spent in Games

A long-awaited feature is included in the PlayStation 5 that'll finally do something for players the PlayStation 4 never could. On Sony's next-gen console, players will be able to check their profile page to see how long they've been playing a game. The time tracker will work not only on PlayStation 5 games but also the time spent in PlayStation 4 games associated with whatever account you bring over from the current console to the next generation.

The PlayStation 5's ability to track time spent in games was something noticed during our hands-on time with the console ahead of our review of the PlayStation 5 experience. To see the new feature in action once you get your own PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, all you have to do is head to your profile page which has also been updated to fit within the new console experience. Once there, you'll see a tab for "Games" that'll show you ones you've recently played. It's under there that you'll see play times for how long you've spent in games.

Those play times may shock some once you see how long you've actually spent playing different games, especially since it tracks time spent on PlayStation 4 games as well, but the feature is overall one that people have been requesting for a while now. Other consoles like the Nintendo Switch already support the same feature, but on the PlayStation 4, players have been dependent on the game itself tracking the time spent played. PlayStation 4 owners were left to estimate how long they'd spent in a game, but that won't be the case any longer.

Tracking time spent in a game is indeed a helpful feature, but it's also just one of many changes coming to the PlayStation 5 to hopefully provide better overall experiences for those upgrading from the PlayStation 4. One of the most notable user-friendly features is the inclusion of "Activities" which are developer-created, in-game tasks for players to accomplish that are specific to each game. We've already gotten an idea of how games like Demon's Souls and NBA 2K21 will handle Activities on the new console.

Aside from Activities, you can check out our highlights of nine more handy features the PlayStation 5 will include as well as one more feature which was just recently revealed.