Fans spot Starblaster on the PS5 site but its probably not what you think

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While we wait for Sony to share more details about PS5, some believe they may have already discovered one of the first upcoming PS5 games (opens in new tab): a project named Starblaster or Starblaster 2, potentially a followup to a long-forgotten Apple 2 game. Unfortunately for all of us (except for the people coordinating the PS5 info rollout), that’s almost certainly wrong.

Reports began circulating about Starblaster when the name was discovered in the backend code for the new PS5 website that first appeared yesterday. While the visible portion of the site is mostly just an application form for a mailing list, curious fans immediately started tearing into its source code to see what else they could find. They found Starblaster, which is the name of an obscure side-scrolling shoot-em-up from 1982 (opens in new tab). Could this be our first hint of an unannounced, retro-inspired PS5 game?

Probably not. Based on where and how the name  appears on the page – as well as many other pages on the PlayStation website – it’s not a game, but a part of Sony’s web development kit. As spotted by GR+’s own Leon Hurley, the full line where the name repeatedly appears across Sony’s sites is “snei-ember-cli-starblaster”.

Let’s break that down. First we have SNEI, which is likely Sony Network Entertainment International, the old name for a business that was folded into Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2016. Then Ember CLI, which is a command line utility (opens in new tab) for building JavaScript apps for websites. Then Starblaster, a designator likely given to an internal Sony web development tool of some kind. The fact that that line can be found all over the PlayStation site, not just the dedicated PS5 page, pretty much settles it.

Even though this particular leak has been busted, we’re still keeping an eye out for any more details on PS5 to surface.

There’s still plenty to look forward to on the console you already have – check out our guide to the biggest upcoming PS4 games (opens in new tab).