Foamstars matchmaking error on PS5: How to fix, potential reasons and more explored

Announced during the PlayStation Showcase this year, Foamstars, Square Enix's upcoming online co-op shooter/ party game, finally got its first public beta this weekend. The demo is scheduled to stay live over the entire weekend until October 2, 2023, giving players plenty of time to get a good first-hand experience with the 4v4 game mode.

Although Foamstars is coming out on both current-gen and previous-gen PlayStation consoles, the open beta is exclusive to the PlayStation 5. And while the game's demo is relatively bug-free, for the most part, there have been quite a few reports of players facing issues with the game's online matchmaking for the 4v4 mode.

Thankfully, the issue can be solved with some easy-to-do troubleshooting.

---

How to fix the matchmaking error in Foamstars open beta on PlayStation 5?

In most instances, the matchmaking error usually crops up in online games either due to overcrowding of servers, possible issues at the game's host server end, or any potential issues with the user's own ethernet connection. It should be mentioned that there have been some connectivity issues with PS5, in particular, following the very recent software update.

Fortunately, a quick reboot of the game or the console itself is usually the best and easiest fix in these scenarios. However, if that doesn't seem to work, you can try the following steps to troubleshoot the matchmaking error in Foamstars open beta:

1) Test your internet connection

The first rule of thumb is to check your console's internet connection. There's always a chance that your ISP might be facing a downtime at the most inopportune of times, causing you to sit through long matchmaking queues.

To confirm whether your internet connection is not at fault, you can always run the network test on your PS5 console. To do so:

• From your PS5 dashboard, go to Settings.
• Select Network and then Test Internet Connection.
• Let the connection test run, which takes roughly one to two minutes, depending on your internet bandwidth.

Once the test concludes, check the download and upload speeds. If it seems slower than the average speed your ISP provides, or the test fails at any of the steps, you'll know that your internet connection is where the issue is. A quick reboot of your router should generally fix this, or you might want to contact your ISP.

---

2) Make sure you have the latest PlayStation system software installed

For online games, especially demos like Foamstars open beta, it's pretty much mandatory that you have the latest PlayStation system software installed on your console.

The most recent update for PlayStation 5 was released a couple of weeks ago, which added plenty of new quality-of-life features to the console while also addressing a few stability issues.

To ensure you have the latest system software installed on your PS5, head to Settings and System. Here, you will need to select Check for System Software Update to check for any pending updates.

---

3) Restore licenses

If you're still unable to fix the matchmaking error, you might want to head to account settings and restore licenses. Although this setting is mostly to fix any download/ upload-related issue on the console, especially with save files and DLCs, in my personal experience, I've also found this quite helpful in rectifying any connectivity-related problems with online games as well.

To restore licenses:

• Head to Settings from your PS5 dashboard.
• Go to User and Account, and select Others.
• Scroll down and select Restore Licenses.

The process takes roughly a minute or two, depending on the amount of games in your PlayStation library. Once it's done, reboot your PS5 and launch the Foamstars open beta.

---

If none of these troubleshooting steps work for you with fixing the matchmaking error in Foamstars open beta, it might be due to a faulty download, which isn't particularly uncommon these days, especially for online games. In such scenarios, the only option you have is to delete and reinstall the demo on your PS5.