Sony’s release cadence for the PlayStation brand suggested that the PS5 would likely arrive in 2021 or so. But with the Nintendo Switch gaining strong marketshare and Microsoft readying a new version of the Xbox One, the Japanese electronics behemoth won’t want to be left behind.
It now seems that the next-gen PlayStation will be announced this year, several months earlier than expected. Here’s the evidence you need to know about.
While the arrival of devkits is a sign that something is coming, those kits are basically little more than custom-made PCs that allow developers to get started on creating games that will be ready for a new console on launch day.
But a file posted to pasteBin lists a bunch of interesting information. Behold:
- PS5 release March 2020 or November 2020
- backward compatible with PS4 games (both physical games and PlayStation Store)
- AMD Ryzen 8 core processor
- 7nm Navi GPU
- 24GB DDR6 memory and 4GB DDR4 for OS and 2TB HDD with some sort of NAND flash
- 8k upscaling, probably 2560×1440 and 120hz
- Dualshock 5, VR
- Price: US$499
With Sony skipping E3 this year, there’s a high likelihood it will wait for the dust to settle on any announcements before revealing the PS5 at its own event. That will allow the company to control the timing and ensure it’s not overshadowed a day or two later when the news cycle moves to whatever is announced the next day.
The leak on PasteBin also lists some potential exclusive PS5 games including a Harry Potter title, another chapter in the Assassins Creed saga and GTA 6.
While rumours should be taken with a grain of salt, as we get closer to an actual release, the more fanciful rumours tend to fade away and we are left the more credible and highly likely possibilities. And that’s where we are now with the PS5.
There seems little doubt that an official announcement will come after E3, which is happening in Las Vegas on June 11-13. Backwards compatibility with the PS4 is all but certain and faster hardware and better graphics performance is a given – otherwise there’s little need to release new hardware.
What are you hoping to see with the PlayStation 5? Will this be the first Sony console to ditch physical media? Will it be able to compete with current-gen gaming PCs? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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