Looking forward to no loading screens on PS5 thanks to the SSD the console will contain? So are we. And for the most part, developers probably are too. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some drawbacks. Indeed, no loading screens will give developers some challenges to work around in terms of conveying important info to the player.
What is Wrong With No Loading Screens on PS5?
While speaking to Wccftech, Ryan Shah of UK-based game studio Kitatus and Friends commented on the issue. He said, “It also does come with caveats. Where in things like in Fallout 4 and even the Soulsborne games a lot of important hints towards the story and and tips on how to play were displayed during the loading screens, because they’re very much in the design of ‘Here’s the game, just go and play’. However, if you start any loading, here’s some background, here’s some lore or here’s a tip for how to not suck. Whereas now they won’t have that blanket. They’re gonna have to think of another way of presenting that information in, which is interesting and not something people are really thinking about at the moment.”
It does seem like some of this info could probably just be overlaid on the screen during the initial levels tutorial-style. But a lot of it isn’t “vital” information, and thus not appropriate for such an overlay. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to want to draw player attention to it. So, what can developers do to convey that info now that the loading screens will no longer exist? It is a quandary. Perhaps there could be a feature for overlaying this extra info which gamers could switch on or off based on their preference.
Looking for more PlayStation news? Find out more about what the prospective cost of the PS5 could be.