Sony has officially confirmed that they are, in fact, currently working on a next-gen video game console. The news comes from Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida speaking to Financial Times, where he says, “At this point, what I can say is it’s necessary to have a next-generation hardware.”
At this point Yoshida and Sony aren’t calling it the PlayStation 5, not entirely surprising at this point. Considering certain games like Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI have already been announced for next-gen consoles, it makes sense there’d be something in development. However, we’d previously heard earlier this year to not expect a PS5 for another three years or so.
Financial Times also reports that new hardware “might not represent a major departure from the PS4, and that the fundamental architecture would be similar.” Considering Nintendo and Microsoft seem to also be taking alternative paths, this wouldn’t be entirely surprising.
Nintendo is running strong off of the phenomenal reception to their handheld-hybrid and is reportedly planning a new model for next year. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently announced Project xCloud, which aims to let people play games on any internet enabled device. We’ve also heard rumors of an Xbox Scarlett, a next-gen system that targets streaming. With both companies trying new approaches, it’ll be interesting to see what strategy Sony pursues for the next generation.
No matter what, we likely won’t see an official announcement on a new PlayStation for some time still.
