PlayStation 5: Release Date, Features, Price & Rumors

PlayStation 5 is already in development. The talks started after Sony posted a job opening online for the position of developer.

The official statement read that the company has an exciting opportunity at Sony Computer Entertainment of America. They were looking for a senior game programmer to aid them in developing a game for purposes of research and development related to their next-generation gaming system. They provided the job profile and added that it will be a very rare opportunity for a person who is passionate about gaming.

Ben Wilson, PlayStation Magazine editor, stated that the new PlayStation 5 may be equipped in an unexpected manner. Additionally, the PS5 may feature a completely new streaming service as downloadable games increase in popularity. CDs will still be available. Wilson said that although the demand for disc drives has gone down due to Steam on PC, these will not be phased out entirely in the meantime, based on a Yibada report.

The new VR technology also put next-generation gaming platforms at risk. Emmett Shear, executive of Twitch-a streaming service, told The Guardian that it would be sensible for both Sony and Xbox-maker Microsoft to convert their hardware into set-top boxes.

Shear said that considering the shorter lifespan of the current gaming consoles, there might be no PlayStation 5 or Xbox Two anytime soon. Consoles have an average lifespan of at least five years, but as technologies continue to develop at a faster rate, the lifespan might become shorter.

“The problem is, the seven-year upgrade lifecycle doesn’t work in the face of the two-year upgrade cycles for every other hardware platform,” he said. “It’s so intrinsically built into how consoles get manufactured and made and the full business model, that I’d be surprised to see another generation,” Shear said at the Changing Media Summit in London.

Geoffrey Zatkin, chief product officer at EEDAR, also predicted that the PS4, Wii U of Nintendo and Xbox One may be the last of their kind. At the very least, gaming console companies might introduce a number of new technologies that they have already unveiled. Sony might feature Project Morpheus with PlayStation 5, while Microsoft might integrate HoloLens with Xbox Two. The two firms are set to test their new VR tech before proceeding with their respective gaming system plans, Crossmap reported.

PS5 is expected to launch in 2020, so current-generation players have a lot of time to enjoy current and upcoming titles.