Fans spot Starblaster on the PS5 site but it's probably not what you think

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This is why you shouldn't give web tools cool names

(Image credit: Future)

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: 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. 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".

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.

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.