Running into a nasty troll in post-game chat is nothing new to many gamers. It will usually do you good to let it roll on your back and load it into a new game. However, this year, Sony will reward you for achieving success at its annual Win-A-Thon.
The PlayStation tournaments started on December 1st and will run until the end of January 2023. All you need is a PlayStation that is compatible with the PS5 versions of their games, plus a PlayStation Plus account if you want to try one of the 14 confirmed. games (opens in a new tab) set to offer prizes if you meet the conditions to win. While PS4 users will be able to win a current-gen console, the tournament website also lists plenty of other game giveaways up for grabs (opens in a new tab).
This year, Sony's blog post (opens in a new tab) announcing the event outlines its intent to create "frictionless, meaningful competitive gaming experiences for gamers of all skill levels." Expect to be disqualified if you can't be nice to strangers online; there are already chatbots watching you.
A soldier for the controller
What's new in this year's PlayStation tournaments? For starters, Sony has made it easy to put your name in the hat.
“The new experience streamlines competitive play with shorter tournament durations, seamless console registration, easy-to-discover tournaments, an all-new user interface, real-time match updates, and other improvements that address common roadblocks to gaming. competitive online”, reads the official blog. mail.
You will be able to track your progress from the Win-A-Thon screen. "Complete any eligible Win-A-Thon tournament for that win to count toward your overall ranking in your regional ranking," the blog post explains. This means that by the end of January you could win a DualSense Edge controller or even a PS5 if you haven't bought one yet.
To find tournaments and challenges, simply scroll to the game of your choice and press the down button on your controller to view all active matches. You don't need to have a certain level of experience to join, so there's no need to be shy about it.
While more players generally meant longer challenge lengths in previous tournaments, the length of each challenge will be capped to keep it fair regardless of how many people join.
“We have introduced a new slot limit feature to guarantee a standard duration for each tournament,” the blog post details. "If the limit is exceeded, multiple groups will be created for the same tournament, but the prizes will remain the same for each."
Also new this year is the ability to check results in real time from the control center, along with notifications to guide you through each tournament. These will help you track the start or end of each one and give you other valuable details to help you succeed.
Be good, for God's sake.
This year's tournaments feel more inclusive than ever, and Sony wants you to know that they're looking out for you to make sure it stays that way. “PlayStation tournaments on PS5 will create more meaningful and frictionless competitive gaming experiences for players of all levels,” they remind us at the end of their announcement in a sweet push that there is no room for bullying here.
Xbox has banned more than seven million Xbox Live accounts for violating usage guidelines, and even individual game studios have cracked down on toxicity in online gaming this year.
Ubisoft and Riot Games' anti-bullying campaign, Zero Harm In Comms, launched in November 2022. Using AI bots to monitor voice and text communications on their online game servers, they intend to collect data that would help autonomous systems to track and suppress cases. bad manners and bullying to make online gambling a safer space for everyone.
With the Ubisoft Rainbow Six Siege game queued up as one of the titles (opens in a new tab) offering Win-A-Thon challenges, it might be interesting to see how much data the campaign of these two years is able to collect. event only.