Sony hopes to promote competitive gaming on PS5 with its new PlayStation Tournaments feature

Released in beta earlier this year, PlayStation Tournaments is now available to all PS5 console owners According to a recent PlayStation Blog (opens in new tab) post, the tournament suite aims to streamline competitive play and remove common barriers that prevent the average player from accessing competitive gaming tournaments

PlayStation®Tournaments will be offered on-console, allowing players to participate without having to download a separate client or visit a third-party website Similar functionality was released for PS4 in 2016, but several improvements were made prior to its launch on the latest generation of PlayStation hardware The PlayStation Tournaments UI has also been redesigned, with a simplified sign-up process, more discoverable tournaments, and real-time match updates via console notifications

To celebrate the release of this feature, Sony announced official tournaments for three games: FIFA 23, NBA 2K23, and Guilty Gear Additionally, a new Win-A-Thon (open in new tab) promotion has been launched on both PS5 and PS4 that will run through December In this contest, players can earn prizes, including a DualSense Edge Controller, by increasing their rank on the leaderboard Ranks are increased by participating in specific tournaments

PlayStation Tournaments are held directly on the PS5 console, but Sony has also launched a new Discord community hub (opens in new tab) Here, the most active participants can connect with each other and build friendly rivalries The server will also feature interviews with key figures in the Esports community and access to special content Sony has not yet confirmed what this content will look like

Accessing PlayStation Tournaments on PS5 will take only a few seconds

First, you must select a participating game from the PS5 home screen For example, FIFA 23 or NBA 2K23

Next, press the down button on the controller's D-pad You should see a list of upcoming tournaments for that particular game Click on the registration for the tournament you wish to participate in

You will receive a notification when the tournament starts This is all it takes to join a PlayStation tournament and compete against the world

Since this feature is still in its infancy, the number of participating games is a bit small at the moment However, the core functionality for participating in tournaments is remarkably streamlined [I would love to see tournament support for popular online games like "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2" and "Rocket League And the good news is that Sony has already hinted at incorporating additional games into PlayStation Tournaments in the future