We’ve rounded up the rumours about the PS5, how powerful it will be, when it will come out, and whether any games will be cross-generational.
It goes like this: Sony releases a console, the first year or two is fine, but it really starts to hit its stride in year three.
By year five, we are swimming in quality games, and there are different models of the console to choose from. With the PS4, those models are the original, the PS4 Slim, and the PS4 Pro, the latter of which released at the end of November 2016.
Why did Sony release a new, more powerful version of the same console? Because after only a few years in the wild, the standard PS4 had already been left lagging behind by high-spec PCs. Players needed something to show off the image quality of their 4K TVs, and the PS4 Pro acted as a mid-generational stopgap.
The console is still having a record-breaking run. By the end of March 2018 Sony has sold 76 million PlayStation 4 consoles. And it expects to shift another 16 million in the coming financial year. That may be a slow down of sorts, but it’s nothing to sniff at.
Despite all of this, fire up a high-spec PC now and even the PS4 Pro is miles behind. Sony will probably want to close this gap as soon as possible with the PS5. Especially now that the CEO of the company, John Kodera, is openly admitting that the console is approaching the final phase of its life cycle.
Speaking to investors in May 2018, Kodera said that majority of PS4 consoles has been sold but it will continue to invest in new and exclusive IP for the PlayStation.
With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the rumours and added a bit of educated speculation about the PS5, how powerful it will be, when it will likely come out, and whether any of the upcoming PlayStation games will be cross-generational.
It wouldn’t be ridiculous to assume the PS5 was already in development. After all, development on the PS4 began in 2008 – five years before it launched. One self-titled industry insider claims that PS5 development kits are already in the wild, though take that with a pinch of salt – this particular insider hasn’t always been right with his predictions.
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida was recently asked about the possibility of the next generation of PlayStation, saying: “At this point, what I can say is it’s necessary to have a next-generation hardware”.
Although he didn’t specifically call the next console PS5, that’s likely what the company will end up calling it. This as close to an announcement as we’ll likely get this year, considering that the PlayStation Experience showcase has been cancelled for 2018 due to lack of content.
