Half of PS5 owners skip rest mode, preferring a full system shutdown. This surprising statistic, revealed by Sony's Cory Gasaway, prompted the development of the PS5's Welcome Hub, a feature designed to create a more unified user experience despite varying preferences.

Gasaway, Sony Interactive Entertainment's VP of game, product, and player experiences, shared with Stephen Totilo that a 50/50 split exists among PS5 users regarding rest mode usage. This finding, highlighted by IGN and Game File, underscores the significant portion of the user base that bypasses this energy-saving feature, despite Sony's emphasis on environmental responsibility. While rest mode is intended to facilitate downloads and maintain game states, many users opt for a complete shutdown.

The Welcome Hub, born from a PlayStation hackathon, directly addresses this preference divergence. Gasaway noted that the Hub’s design, which presents either the PS5 Explore page (for US users) or the last played game (for international users), aims to offer a consistent and customizable starting point for all players.

Why the 50% rejection of rest mode? The reasons appear varied. Some users report internet connectivity issues related to rest mode, leading them to keep their consoles fully powered on for downloads. Others simply prefer a complete shutdown. Regardless, Gasaway's insights offer valuable context into the PS5's user interface design process.