PS5 owners report the DualSense is now doing a better of job recreating PS4 rumble for back compat games

Sony issued an update to the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller this week, and reports indicate it has improved the rumble effect for PlayStation 4 back compat games.

The DualSense update, issued alongside the PS5’s big firmware update that finally let you move games to USB storage, doesn’t have official patch notes, leaving players to work out what’s changed.

Reports indicate the DualSense’s vibration is now more pronounced when playing PS4 games. Since the PS5 came out in November, it’s felt like the vibration on the DualSense when playing PS4 games was weak compared to how it feels when playing PS4 games on an actual PS4. Obviously, the rumble created by the DualSense, which uses haptic feedback tech, is different than the rumble created by the DualShock 4’s motors.

It appears that now, post-update, the feedback you get from the DualSense more closely emulates the feeling of DualShock 4 rumble – when playing PS4 games, that is.

“In games like Rocket League and God of War, it’s made a valuable difference,” redditor TJangoRechained said.

“After playing games in backwards compatibility for five months, it’s something I noticed right away. I don’t get why it wasn’t mentioned in their notes like everything else. Maybe they plan to perfect it even more over time.”

“Played Ratchet and Clank PS4 last couple of days and didn’t get that much feedback,” _Shad0wo3 said. “Tried it today, after the update, and the controller was very responsive.”

I’m not sure why Sony wouldn’t announce a change like this. It feels like it would be well-received! But then Sony’s never been one to dish the dirt with its patch notes, leaving plenty for the community to work out itself.