The PS5 doesn’t just bring in better graphics and higher framerates — it also gives players a new controller, the DualSense. This successor to the DualShock 4 features a higher-quality built-in microphone, a refined touchpad, an improved battery, and most importantly, haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
Those latter two features can be used by game developers in unique ways. For example, haptic feedback can give unique sensations, like the pattering of rain or a blast of energy, in a more focused and accurate way than rumble motors. Meanwhile, adaptive triggers can provide a variety of functions with different weapons due to the special physical functions implemented, essentially offering gameplay features that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
To provide a couple of examples, the adaptive triggers of the DualSense are used in Arkane Studios’ Deathloop so that if a gun jams, the trigger physically locks. Meanwhile, in Insomniac Games’ Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, you can pull a trigger partially to fire one barrel on a particular gun or pull it all the way to fire both barrels.
Rift Apart also uses the haptic feedback to make it feel like Ratchet is running across various surfaces, with polished metal walkways feeling completely different than moving through tall grass or slogging in mud. Other games can simulate rain falling on a player’s head or a rough-and-tumble landing.
Accounting for all the different ways the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers can be used with the PS5 would start to border on impossible, so instead, we’ve listed all the games confirmed to take advantage of one or both of these unique features. Here’s a list of PS5 games that support DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
Note: We’re still unsure if some of the games below will utilize both the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. We’ve marked those games accordingly.
PS5 games that support DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers
| Game | Adaptive Triggers | Haptic Feedback | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Wake Remastered | Yes | – | Oct. 5, 2021 |
| Astro’s Playroom | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Yes | Yes | Nov. 10, 2020 |
| Back 4 Blood | Yes | Yes | Oct. 2021 |
| Borderlands 3 | Yes | Yes | Nov. 13, 2020 |
| Bugsnax | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Yes | Yes | Nov. 13, 2020 |
| Call of Duty: Vanguard | Yes | Yes | Nov. 5, 2021 |
| Control | Yes | Yes | Feb. 2, 2021 |
| Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time | Yes | Yes | March 12, 2021 |
| Crusader Kings 3 | Yes | Yes | March 29, 2022 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | Yes | Yes | Feb. 16, 2022 |
| Deathloop | Yes | Yes | Sept. 14, 2021 |
| Death’s Door | Yes | Yes | Nov. 23, 2021 |
| Demon’s Souls | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Destruction AllStars | Yes | Yes | Feb. 2, 2021 |
| Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Diablo 2: Resurrected | – | Yes | 2021 |
| DiRT 5 | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| F1 22 | Yes | Yes | July 1, 2022 |
| FIFA 21 | – | Yes | Dec. 4, 2020 |
| Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker | Yes | Yes | 2021 |
| Fortnite | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Genshin Impact | Yes | Yes | July 21, 2021 |
| Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut | Yes | Yes | Aug. 20, 2021 |
| Ghostwire: Tokyo | Yes | Yes | March 25, 2022 |
| Godfall | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| God of War: Ragnarok | – | – | 2022 |
| Goodbye Volcano High | – | Yes | 2022 |
| Gran Turismo 7 | Yes | Yes | March 4, 2022 |
| Grand Theft Auto 5 | Yes | Yes | March 15, 2022 |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | Yes | Yes | Oct. 26, 2021 |
| Hades | Yes | – | Aug. 13, 2021 |
| Heavenly Bodies | Yes | Yes | – |
| Hell Let Loose | Yes | Yes | 2021 |
| Hogwarts Legacy | Yes | Yes | 2022 |
| Hood: Outlaws & Legends | – | – | May 7, 2021 |
| Horizon Forbidden West | Yes | Yes | Feb. 18, 2022 |
| Immortals Fenyx Rising | – | Yes | Dec. 3, 2020 |
| Jett: The Far Shore | – | Yes | 2021 |
| Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Yes | Yes | 2021 |
| Life is Strange: True Colors | Yes | Yes | Sept. 10, 2021 |
| Madden 21 | – | Yes | Dec. 4, 2020 |
| Maneater | – | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Marvel’s Avengers | Yes | Yes | March 18, 2021 |
| Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Yes | Yes | 2023 |
| Marvel’s Wolverine | Yes | Yes | – |
| Metro Exodus | Yes | Yes | June 18, 2021 |
| MXGP 2020 | Unknown | Unknown | Dec. 16, 2020 |
| NBA 2K21 | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| No Man’s Sky | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Nour: Play With Your Food | Yes | Yes | – |
| Observer: System Redux | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Oddworld: Soulstorm | Yes | – | April 2021 |
| Overcooked! All You Can Eat | Unknown | Unknown | 2020 |
| Praey for the Gods | Unknown | Unknown | Q1 2021 |
| Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | Yes | Yes | June 11, 2021 |
| Resident Evil 2 | Yes | Yes | June 13, 2022 |
| Resident Evil 3 | Yes | Yes | June 13, 2022 |
| Resident Evil 4 | Yes | Yes | March 24, 2023 |
| Resident Evil 7 | Yes | Yes | June 13, 2022 |
| Resident Evil Village | Yes | Yes | May 7, 2021 |
| Returnal | Yes | Yes | April 30, 2021 |
| Ride 4 | Yes | Yes | Jan. 2021 |
| Sackboy: A Big Adventure | Yes | – | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Sifu | Yes | Yes | Feb. 8, 2022 |
| Sniper Elite 5 | Yes | Yes | May 25, 2022 |
| Stray | – | Yes | July 19, 2022 |
| The Callisto Protocol | Yes | Yes | 2022 |
| The Pathless | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes | Yes | Yes | Oct. 22, 2021 |
| The Last of Us Part 1 | Yes | Yes | Sep. 2, 2022 |
| The Quarry | Yes | June 10, 2022 | |
| Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands | Yes | Yes | March 25, 2022 |
| Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection | Yes | Yes | Jan. 28, 2022 |
| Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt | Yes | Yes | April 27, 2022 |
| Warframe | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | Yes | Yes | Nov. 12, 2020 |
As this list grows and the generation continues, we’ll be sure to expand the table with further details and confirmed games. While titles from PlayStation Studios are sure to use these features, third-party support may be more sparse.
These are just some of the more advanced features possible on the PS5. The newer hardware also allows some PS5 games to support different kinds of ray-tracing. Meanwhile, a few other PS5 games even support 120 FPS. All these different features combine to help set the PS5 apart from last-generation console gaming, as none of these things are possible on the PS4.
Sony isn’t resting and just stopping there, either. With new updates, the company is introducing a list of PS5 games with VRR support, further improving the framerate in multiple titles. VRR means that a game doesn’t have to be locked to a particular screen framerate in order to properly refresh, providing a smoother experience.
Technically, most games support VRR unless otherwise noted, but the detailed list of games will specifically take advantage of the feature in order to improve the gameplay as much as possible.
Next-gen gaming is here!
In our PS5 review, Android Central Games Editor Jennifer Locke was truly impressed with the DualSense and cited it as a major plus for Sony’s console, saying that it truly must be felt to understand why it’s so good. If you haven’t managed to grab one yet, keep an eye out for PS5 restocks so you can jump in on the latest generation of gaming.
To keep your controllers charged up and ready to go, you might want to grab a DualSense charging station. We’ve noticed that the more a game uses the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback features, the faster the battery drains. There’s no consistent pattern to this, but, in general, from our testing, a DualSense controller with a healthy battery used to play Astro’s Playroom will last just under three hours.
If you’re not a fan of the defaul white that matches the PS5, you can always grab one of the other options, as Sony has released DualSense models in purple, red, blue, and black.
