New PS5 System Update Released for March 17, Here’s Everything That Changed

A new PlayStation 5 console update has today started rolling out around the globe and comes with many new changes. To kick off this week, Sony revealed that it would be upgrading 11 different games at once for PS5 Pro thanks to improvements made to the hardware’s PSSR technology. For those who don’t happen to own the Pro version of the PS5, though, Sony has also made a number of tweaks to the base version of the console as well.

Available now, PS5 firmware version 26.02-13.00.00 is the biggest one that has been seen so far in 2026. The most notable new feature that has come with this patch is the aforementioned upgrade for PS5 Pro consoles. Outside of this, Sony has also added a “Showcase Mode” option Welcome Hub tab of PS5 which will allow users to view their background in full when sitting idle on this tab. This feature is one that many PlayStation users have been requesting for a prolonged period of time as it’s much more similar to how themes were implemented on PS4.

Other than these major tweaks to the PS5, Sony has made a typical slew of performance and stability upgrades to the console. Specifics of just what was changed in this regard haven’t been provided, but the platform should be better now than it was before in terms of usability.

To get a look at everything that has been tweaked with this new PS5 update in full, you can check out the patch notes courtesy of Sony below.

PS5 System Update Version 26.02-13.00.00 Patch Notes

• We’ve enhanced PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) on PS5 Pro. Enjoy sharper and clearer visuals in supported games.
  • To turn on the enhanced PSSR model for your PSSR compatible games that aren’t using the enhanced model, go to Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output > Enhance PSSR Image Quality.
  • This feature is available only on PS5 Pro.
• Unicode 17.0 emojis are now supported. You can use them in your messages.
• New features are now available for your Welcome hub.
  • You can now use Showcase Mode to display a full view of your Welcome hub background when your PS5 console is idle. When turned on, your Welcome hub automatically enters Showcase mode when idle.
  • Slideshow mode allows you to set an album as your background and rotate between images.
    • You can turn on Showcase mode and Slideshow mode in your Welcome hub settings. You can also set the idle time to enter Showcase mode according to your preference.
  • You can now set your Welcome hub background from within your Media Gallery.
  • A new background is available for your Welcome hub.
• We’ve improved the messages and usability on some screens.
• We’ve improved system software performance and stability.