Sony’s PS5 is so far away that it’s not even a blip on most people’s radar. However, for those of you eager to know what’s going on with the PlayStation 5, it appears there are some murmurings on the horizon. Interest around Sony’s next PlayStation console has been bubbling since the launch of the PS4 but, with the subsequent announcement and release of the PS4 Pro, interest around the PlayStation 5 has seemingly dropped off.
That hasn’t stopped analysts and experts trying to work out when Sony will pull the trigger on a fifth-generation PlayStation though. Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Damian Thong predicts Sony will launch the PS5 in 2018, speaking to The Wall Street Journal he sees Sony releasing the new device in the second half of the year.
Thong was correct with both the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro announcements, but it’s worth noting that he didn’t predict the arrival of the original PS4. A PS5 wouldn’t simply be a hardware revision like the previous consoles, where contacts at manufacturing plants would be able to leak information well before release. If a PlayStation 5 was in the works, it’d still be very much in the technical stages now.
We do know that a PS5 is coming, that much has been confirmed by Sony’s Shawn Layden in an interview with German site Golem.de. But Layden didn’t put a date on it beyond saying that the PlayStation 5 “is coming” but it’ll “probably be some time” before it’s released.
Serial analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities – infamous for his generally incorrect predictions – believes that Sony won’t release a PlayStation 5 console until 2019.
“My expectation is that it’s not coming out in 2018,” he said in an interview with GamingBolt. “[It’s] a 2019 or 2020 [release], but probably 2019. Sony is probably timing it better because they are going to bring out a 4K capable device when the 4K TV market reaches 50% in the USA and 35% in the rest of the world.”
Personally, I can’t see either case being true. I may be no analyst, but I’ve been paying attention to the console market for years. Murmurings generally do indicate things happening in the background, but for Sony to release a new device so soon after the PS4 Pro is somewhat suspect.
The original PS4 launched in 2013, three years later the PS4 Pro arrives. 2019 would be the absolute earliest for a new generation of hardware to arrive, but both Microsoft and Sony have continually said they see this generation as the longest one yet – both the PS3 and Xbox 360 sat in the market, with no hardware revisions, for six to seven years before being replaced. This would mean a 2019 release would come at just the right time, and it’s more likely a 2020 launch date would fit the cycle Sony wants to promote for this generation.
PS5 release date: When can you expect the PlayStation 5?
As Sony hasn’t confirmed anything beyond the PlayStation 5 being in development, and a promise that it’ll “probably be some time” before it comes to market, your guess is as good as mine. It’s unlikely to arrive before 2019 and is most likely to arrive for holiday season 2020.
The PS4 is also enjoying abundant sales. There have now been over 50 million PS4 units sold around the world since launch and the new PS4 Pro is enjoying healthy sales despite its limited audience. To cannibalise sales by releasing a new console soon would be a foolish move and likely piss off the PlayStation fans Sony won back after the mess that was the PS3.
PS5 specs: What will the PlayStation 5 be capable of?
Whatever’s in the PS5, Sony’s new machine will have to be a beast. Not only is it going to beat the PS4 Pro, it’ll also have to usurp Microsoft’s incredible Xbox One X as the most powerful console ever created. This isn’t simply showboating, to become a next-generation console, Sony really has to up the ante with the PlayStation 5.
It’s likely Sony will want to ensure parity with the PS4 and PS4 Pro catalogue of games, but it’ll also need to provide more power than ever before. This means it could well move away from an AMD-based processor and adopt Nvidia’s technology – which the Nintendo Switch has proven works as a console chip replacement. The downside to such a move is the lack of compatibility with the AMD-based PS4 and PS4 Pro.
PS5 price: How much will the PlayStation 5 cost?
Now we enter into the realm of pure speculation. Trying to pick apart just how much Sony might charge for a console is a tricky one as the Japanese company has a history of doing whatever it pleases.
Going by the smart pricing of the PS4 and PS4 Pro at £350 on launch, I’d like to say Sony should stick to the same model with the PlayStation 5. However, with Microsoft’s Xbox One X coming into the market at an eye-watering £450, Sony may look to see just how successful Microsoft’s latest launch is before revising its pricing structure. If Sony plans to release the PlayStation 5 before Microsoft follows up the One X with a new console, then we could well see Sony slotting its next-generation console a the top of its PlayStation family tree as an ultra-premium device with a price-point to match.