The PlayStation 5 is finally here. With all of the hype leading up to the launch of the PS5, will Sony be able to deliver on its promise of ultra-fast load times? Of course, we know the PS5 packs a custom SSD, new CPU, and more RAM. Even so, will the hardware be mitigated by larger games? Will the load times be limited for PS4 backward compatibility? Are games on disc still limited by the speed of the disc drive? Now that we have the PS5 in our hands, we wanted to see how the PS5 improves load times.
For our test, we have a mix of PS4 games with free upgrades to PS5. As well as games both on disc and digital. For comparison, we have a PS4 Pro and all the games are up to date as of November 10th. All PS5 games will be running on their latest version as of November 12th. The first series of tests is to see how quickly games load from the home screen to their start menu. These tests will all be under an initial launch with no quick resume. The second test will be to see how quickly random points load. Each game will run from local internal storage on both consoles.
PS4 Pro Load Times
| Game | Launch To Start Menu | Second Load Point | Second Load Point Time |
| Bloodborne (Digital) | 0:29:05 | Continue From Death | 0:18:02 |
| Borderlands 3 (Gold Edition Disc) | 2:01:05 | Continue: Floodmoor Basin | 0:43:09 |
| Gravity Rush 2 (Disc) | 0:19:01 | Continue Save | 0:10:03 |
| The Last of Us Remastered (Digital) | 0:43:01 | Launching Left Behind | 0:17:09 |
| Maneater (Disc) | 0:57:07 | Continue Game | 0:23:07 |
| Mortal Kombat 11 (Disc) | 0:28:08 | Start a Local Fight | 0:08:03 |
| NBA 2K21 (Disc) | 0:26:08 | Start a Quick Game | 0:23:02 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Disc) | 0:45:08 | Start a New Campaign | 1:03:08 |
| Sniper Elite 4 (Digital) | 0:13:08 | Start a New Campaign | 0:09:03 |
| Transformers Devastation (Digital) | 0:33:06 | Start a New Campaign | 0:08:06 |
PS5 Load Times
| Game | Launch To Start Menu | Second Load Point | Second Load Point Time |
| Bloodborne (Digital) | 0.19.8 | Continue From Death | 0:15:08 |
| Borderlands 3 (Gold Edition Disc) | 0:35:04 | Continue: Floodmoor Basin | 0:06:09 |
| Gravity Rush 2 (Disc) | No Change | Continue Save | No Change |
| The Last of Us Remastered (Digital) | 0:34:08 | Launching Left Behind | 0:13:02 |
| Maneater (Disc) | 0:35:09 | Continue Game | 0:12:01 |
| NBA 2K21 (Digital) | 0:17:03 | Start a Quick Game | 0:04:02 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Disc) | 0:28:08 | Start a New Campaign | 0:44:08 |
| Sniper Elite 4 (Digital) | 0:16:04 | Start a New Campaign | 0:11:05 |
| Transformers Devastation (Digital) | 0:14:07 | Start a New Campaign | 0:05:08 |
The Difference Between The PS4 Pro And PS5
| Game | Launch To Start Menu | Second Load Point | Second Load Point Time |
| Bloodborne (Digital) | -31.03% | Continue From Death | -11.11% |
| Borderlands 3 (Gold Edition Disc) | -72.00% | Continue: Floodmoor Basin | -84.09% |
| Gravity Rush 2 (Disc) | No Change | Continue Save | No Change |
| The Last of Us Remastered (Digital) | -20.93% | Launching Left Behind | -27.78% |
| Maneater (Disc) | -37.93% | Continue Game | -50.00% |
| NBA 2K21 (Digital) | -37.04% | Start a Quick Game | -82.61% |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Disc) | -36.96% | Start a New Campaign | -33.82% |
| Sniper Elite 4 (Digital) | 14.29% | Start a New Campaign | 33.33% |
| Transformers Devastation (Digital) | -55.88% | Start a New Campaign | -33.33% |
The PS5 Improves Load Times
The first thing that stands out to me is the dramatic change in load times in games that have been optimized for the PS5. The next thing that stands out to me is Sniper Elite 4. For reasons, I ca not even fathom, Sniper Elite 4 actually takes longer to load on the PS5 than it does on the PS4 Pro. Outside of that, the PS5 improves load times for PS4 games between 30 to 35 percent. With PS5 games this does not include quick resume. As well as loading to specific parts in games from the home screen. Both of which allow games to launch slightly faster.
I also noticed both PS5 and PS4 games are still held back by splash screens and legal notices at launch. Even when I launch NBA 2K21 from the home screen directly into a quick game, I still get the NBPA splash screen you see at every launch. Our next major leap into reducing load times would be to mitigate these screens. Although it is highly unlikely games will remove those legal notices and developer splash screens. If publishers can find a way around these screens, how we launch games will change dramatically.
