The ability to instantly undo the last action could give gamers an obvious advantage when completing games, at least single-player ones. It looks like Sony is planning to implement something similar by adding a button to the gamepad that allows you to quickly undo the last action in the game. In any case, the Japanese company has patented the idea of a special button for rewinding the game, located on the controller.
Image Source: Sony
According to available data, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published the corresponding patent on October 31, and the application for its registration was filed a year and a half ago. The terse legal language mostly describes the action of pressing or holding the new button, which is located in place of the Share button found on current PlayStation controllers. Pressing or holding the button will allow you to instantly move backward, either in actual gameplay or in recorded video.
The idea of rewinding gameplay is nothing new, but the ability to integrate this feature directly into the gamepad looks interesting. This will mean that Sony is planning to release a specific game in which this mechanic will be actively used, or the company wants developers to begin actively implementing it in their projects. The rewind feature that Nintendo added to the Switch Online emulation platform could be a source of inspiration, and the PlayStation 5’s fast flash memory and powerful hardware will allow it to be implemented in modern full-featured games.
However, you need to understand that the rewind button obviously will not work with all games. For example, multiplayer projects that synchronize gameplay between many players will obviously not allow such a feature to be implemented.