Sony has quietly added animated backgrounds for the PS5 welcome hub but it seems to be only available for certain users so far. One of the biggest complaints about the PS5 at launch was the lack of customisable backgrounds and themes that allowed PS4 owners to make the console their own. Five years later, Sony is sort of rectifying that mistake but only for the welcome hub which was added last year.
Previously, the PS5 welcome hub only featured Astro Bot, but now players can switch it out with new backgrounds for titles like Ghost of Yotei, Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone, Demon’s Souls, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, Lego Horizon Adventures, Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
Unfortunately, not everyone can access these animated backgrounds yet as it appears to be only available to certain users. The welcome hub lets players customise widgets on their home screen when they boot up their PlayStation console, including messages, notifications and controller battery levels. The splash screens that show up when hovering over game icons will still be in place, so the animated backgrounds only cover the welcome hub, though it is a small step in the right direction.
Last year, PlayStation added a series of custom 30th anniversary themes that let players change the aesthetic of their consoles to themed PS1, PS2, PS3 or PS4 options. While this was a great feature, Sony decided to remove the themes in January 2025 for unknown reasons. However, the company did state that it would consider making them available again at a later date.
Beyond the 30th anniversary themes, it doesn’t seem like PlayStation will offer any more customisable options for the PS5 at this point in the generation, which is slightly disappointing. The animated backgrounds for the welcome hub are good but customisable themes are missed. We’ll have to wait for an official announcement from Sony for when we can expect the animated backgrounds to become available to more players.
Source: Video Games Chronicle
