With a new console generation on the horizon, you'd be right in hunting down every scrap of information on the Playstation 5. Luckily, tis the season for rumors, leaks, and hints.
Sony unveiled the new Playstation 5 logo at the CES event in Las Vegas, USA, and has since discussed light details about what we can expect from the console coming this next holiday season.
With Sony confirming that the PS5 will have features such as - improved cloud gaming performance, dramatically improved graphics rendering and an "incredibly powerful" backwards compatibility, that will let you play online with PS4 players, the PS5 is shaping up to be one exciting console.
Keep this page bookmarked as we'll be sure to know more about the design and specs of the new console soon.
Sony are currently hosting the PlayStation Experience in New York, a month-long event showcasing all things PlayStation, which ends around mid-February (a rumoured date for an announcement).
The PlayStation 5 has been confirmed for release in the holidays of 2020 and fans (including me) are hyped to get their hands on the next-gen console. Leaks and rumours are already circulating about the specific window you can expect for the new console.
Here's everything we know about the PlayStation 5 so far.
With the next generation of consoles set to release in the near future, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will headline the new consoles.
WATCH NOW: PS5 GAMES WE'D LOVE TO SEE ON SONY'S NEW CONSOLE
New Controller Patent
Another new patent from Sony Interactive Entertainment has been discovered, and it reveals a detachable controller pad to make games easier to play for players who are blind or have lower vision.
How Powerful Is The PlayStation 5?
The PlayStation 5 has an AMD Ryzen CPU with eight cores and the maker's new 7nm Zen 2 microarchitecture, a next-gen Radeon GPU capable of ray tracing, a super fast SSD that can load games in the blink of an eye and an immersive custom 3D audio unit.
Game installation (which is mandatory, given the speed difference between the SSD and the optical drive) will be a bit different than in the PS4.
This time around, aided in part by the simplified game data possible with the SSD, Sony is changing its approach to storage, making for a more configurable installation—and removal—process. Meaning you can theoretically install certain parts of a game e.g. just installing the campaign.
With specs like this, the PlayStation 5 should support PlayStation VR, we could potentially see a PlayStation VR 2?
The PlayStation 5 seems pretty powerful, but could that work against them? For such a powerful console, you can imagine it will come at a hefty price. If the price goes up and their competitors sell cheaper, could it spell disaster for Sony?
A New Controller
Fresh leaks around the PS5 dev kit were revealed giving us an idea of how the Dualshock 5 will look and feel.
One of the goals for Sony with the next generation is to deepen the feeling of immersion when you play games, and with the new controller they had the chance to reimagine how the sense of touch will add to that immersion.
To that end, there are two key innovations with the PlayStation 5’s new controller.
First, adopting haptic feedback to replace the “rumble” technology found in controllers since the 5th generation of consoles.
With haptics, you feel a broader range of feedback, so smashing full-throttle into a wall in a formula one car feels completely different from a light tackle on the football field. You can even get a sense for a variety of textures when running through fields of grass or traipsing through the mud.
The second innovation is something called adaptive triggers, which have been incorporated into the trigger buttons (L2/R2). Developers can program the resistance of the triggers, so that you feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain.
In combination with the haptics, this can produce a powerful experience that better simulates various actions. Game creators have started to receive early versions of the new controller, and we can’t wait to see where their imagination goes with these new features at their disposal.
The Competition
What about the competition? The PlayStation 5 will be going up against Microsoft's Xbox Series X (formerly known as Project Scarlett) and Google's Stadia. The Google Stadia will be launching first but has no previous pedigree in the gaming space. Microsoft have already announced a major title, Halo 6, will launch with this brand new console.
This generation of gaming consoles has been dominated by Sony’s Playstation 4. Having so far sold over 94 million consoles, 870 million games as well as over 90 million active users on its online service, Playstation Network (PSN).
However, the games industry is ever-changing and companies on top can find themselves replaced just a few years later.
The last generation for example was highly competitive between the PS3 and the Xbox 360, with the former suffering a delayed launch, lack of launch titles and it being the more expensive of the two.
This led to the Xbox 360 winning overall in sales numbers. Despite the rocky start, Sony found their feet again at the end of the PS3’s lifecycle with solid title releases and the introduction of Playstation Plus.
Release Date
The Playstation 5 will release in the holidays of 2020, with Microsoft’s The Xbox Series X being slated for the end of 2020, it will be a highly competitive time of the year for consoles.
A leak reported by TechRadar suggests a November window for the PS5.
What's The Price?
The Playstation 4 sold for $399 on release. Both variants of the PS3 (20GB and 60GB) cost $499 and $599 respectively and was a big reason for the console losing out to it’s cheaper rival, the Xbox 360.
Reported by Gamesradar, a leak surfaced on Pastebin in April and revealed the PS5’s price to be at $499. If true, the new model will be $100 more expensive than the PS4. We may not hear from Sony until Microsoft reveal the Project Scarlett’s price so they don’t get caught losing out to a cheaper console like they did with the PS3.
What Games Can We Expect To See?
If anything is certain, it’s death, taxes and a new yearly Call of Duty release. In May, Kotaku reported that Activision assigned Sledgehammer and support studio, Raven, to take the lead on developing a new COD set during the Cold War.
The plan changed and Treyarch was moved forward in the schedule to deliver a new Black Ops title.
Godfall has been announced as the first official game for the PlayStation 5 and due to be released at the end of 2020.
Published by Borderlands creator Gearbox and developed by Counterplay Games, Godfall is a third person “looter-slasher” set in an entirely new fantasy universe and has an emphasis on collecting an ever-growing amount of weapons throughout the game.
Games that we can expect: COD 2020, Cyberpunk (especially with new tech helping with no loading screens etc), Elder Scrolls 6, sequels to a range of PS exclusives.
What do you think about the PlayStation 5? Will you be buying one? Tweet us!
Written by Ollie East