For years, gamers have eagerly awaited news on the PS5. Unfortunately, these details have been sparse. As recently as last May, our own Brian Geraghty bemoaned the dearth of hard information on the console. Yesterday, Sony’s Mark Cerny provided a tantalising glimpse at the as-yet unnamed next-gen console. Unfortunately, what we don’t know still vastly outweighs what we do. That said, Cerny dropped a few juice tidbits that hint at a very promising console.
PS5: The Facts
In an exclusive interview with Wired, Cerny revealed the following hard facts about the mysterious console;
- Support for up to 8K graphics
- Ray tracing support, the modern holy grail of graphics
- 3rd generation AMD Ryzen 8 core CPU
- A custom Radeon GPU (powerful enough for those 8K graphics and ray tracing)
- 3D audio (using virtual surround sound or headphones)
- Support for current PSVR – no hard confirmation of next-gen VR yet
- A powerful custom SSD that will massacre load times (from minutes to seconds or less)
- It will not be download only – support for physical media won’t go away
- Confirmed backwards compatibility with PS4 games
- Developers are already working with a dev kit to develop games for release at launch
As you may have noticed, all of these exciting facts and specs are hardware-focused. Lamentably, Cerny revealed nothing of the software that will sit on top of this chassis. Still – these revelations promise a powerful contender in the console market. It’s clear Sony are intending to future-proof insofar as possible. Despite 8K displays being extremely rare – not to mention prohibitively expensive – the tech giant is keen on maintaining support for them. They failed to do this with the PS4, necessitating the release of the PS4 Pro three years post-launch to provide 4K support.
PS5: The Rumours
Other than the above details from Cerny, official word from Sony on their next-gen console has been absent. That’s not to say that the console hasn’t had its fair share of rumours and speculation. Take what you read here with a pinch of salt – but here are the most promising theories.
- Financial analyst Hideki Yasuda predicts a 2020 release, and a price tag of around US$500.
- A patent filed by Sony hints that the PlayStation 5 might support backwards compatibility for more than just PS4 games
- Bethesda titles Elder Scrolls: VI, Starfield and Cyberpunk are all likely contenders for release on the platform, as they’re all pegged as next-gen games
- A PSVR sequel is likely, to take advantage of the much beefier hardware specs
The Competition
The future of gaming, now more than ever, is uncertain. New technologies are being developed at breakneck pace, and getting faster all the time. Whether home consoles will even exist in a decade’s time is a matter for debate. With platforms like Google Stadia putting pressure on hardware developers like Sony to go above and beyond, it remains to be seen whether home consoles can fight their corner. Of course, the next entry in the XBox family of consoles is no doubt in development – and it’s likely that Microsoft will leak details soon in response to Cerny’s interview.
For all details and developments as they arise, stay tuned to GamEir, converse with us on Twitter (@gam_eir), Facebook (@GamEir), and Instagram (@GamEir). Check out our videos on Twitch (GamEir) and YouTube (GamEir) for all the latest content!
Mark Cerny – lead architect for the PS4 and PS5
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