Sony has officially confirmed that it is working on the successor to the massively successful PlayStation 4, without revealing if the next-generation console will be named the PlayStation 5.
The PlayStation 4 is turning five years old next month, so it makes sense that Sony is already looking ahead to the future of the console. With the next PlayStation confirmed, the biggest question mark now would be the planned PlayStation 5 release date.
Sony Working On Next PlayStation
In an interview with the Financial Times, Sony's President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida confirmed that the PlayStation 4 successor is in the works.
"At this point, what I can say is it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware," Yoshida said.
Sony's boss, however, did not provide the name of the console. It is widely expected to be called the PlayStation 5, but naming electronic devices these days have not been that simple for some reason (looking at you, iPhone XS).
The Financial Times report goes on to say that the next-generation console might not be a major departure from the PlayStation 4, keeping the current console's fundamental architecture. This means that the PlayStation 4 successor might be an incremental upgrade as opposed to a massive redesign. One theory is that Sony will try its hand at a video game streaming service, like Microsoft's Project xCloud and Google's Project Stream, and integrate that into the upcoming console.
PlayStation 5 Release Date
The confirmation that Sony is working on the next PlayStation raises expectations that the console will launch sooner than later. The cancellation of PlayStation Experience 2018 supports the theory, as the speculation is that there are no more games to announce because developers are already working on games for the PlayStation 4 successor.
Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO John Kodera said earlier this year that the PlayStation 4 life cycle is entering its final phase, which also hinted at the PlayStation 5. However, Kodera hinted that next PlayStation will be unveiled at around March 2021.
Is the PlayStation 5 release date at least two years away or will the console be unveiled much sooner than that? PlayStation fans will simply have to wait for an official announcement.
