With the release of the Xbox One X, it looked like Sony was under pressure. This would underestimate the PlayStation 4 catalog which continues to sell very well and the popularity, more generally, of the PS4. Sony should however launch its new console, the PS5, by the end of 2020. The PS5 logo has also been confirmed on the sidelines of CES 2020: nothing very surprising, it uses the same graphic charter as that of the PS3 and PS2 before him.
When will the PS5 be launched?
Sony has confirmed that the console will be launched during “the holiday season 2020” therefore between the months of October and December. A leak also suggested that the PlayStation 5 release date could be set for November 20. But there have recently been two dramatic developments. First, we officially learned that Sony will not present the PS5 at E3 2020, an event that is traditionally the place of major launches, for Sony and Microsoft. The video game show was later canceled following the health crisis.
The firm explains in passing prepare for “a year of celebrations” for the release of its PlayStation 5 console. How to have “a year of celebrations” if the console is not revealed until the end of the year? Sony is starting to teaser everything on its console and has even opened a dedicated site. However, the other major event is the epidemic of coronavirus which is seriously disrupting production in China. It is likely that the release schedule has already been completely revised by Sony behind the scenes because of this pandemic.
This does not prevent Sony from starting to formalize its calendar. An event was therefore planned for June 4, 2020. Faced with riots in American cities, Sony finally canceled the conference. Other online conferences are in any case planned for the summer. We should, we hope, find out the price and the exact launch date in the summer of 2020.
In all cases, Sony has rather an interest in quickly proposing its new console: sales of the PS4 are in the process of undergoing a drop much more pronounced than expected. Moreover, to counter the release of the Xbox Series X, Sony would offer two models including a Pro at launch.
What price for the PS5?
Sony has not yet announced the price of the PlayStation 5. However, if some rumors are to be believed, the PlayStation 5 would be sold for € 449 in Europe. Information to be taken with great care, because we learned at the bend of the announcement of Sony’s financial results on February 5, 2020, that internally, the price of the PS5 was not yet fixed. Another report suggests that in reality, Sony will have to deal with an initial production cost of € 450. This suggests that the final sale price will be higher than expected. Besides, this price considered too high would be internally causing delays.
Some rumors also report a price of up to 499, even 599 euros, depending on the storage capacity of the console. A high price would result in lower production: Sony would, therefore, consider producing its console only 5 or 6 million copies, initially at least. For comparison, the Japanese manufacturer had manufactured 7.5 million copies of the PS4 when it was released in 2013.
In any case, according to a former Microsoft, Mike Ybarra, find a price for the SP5 is much more complicated than finding a price for the Xbox X Series. Either way, Sony’s console would be more expensive than the new Xbox. The firm is preparing fans for console fans at a higher price than expected.
Which datasheet for the PS5?
According to a study, the two biggest expectations of PlayStation fans for the PS5 are improved graphics and reduced loading times. Mark Cerny, chief architect of PlayStation, has already confirmed some very interesting elements of the PS5 technical sheet. We thus learn precisely that the console will be able to deliver graphics in 8K with Ray Tracing and 3D audio. He thus details certain precise points of his technical sheet:
- AMD Ryzen 3rd generation SoC (7nm)
- Zen CPU from 2 to 8 cores clocked at 3.5 GHz
- 10.28 TFLOPS AMD RDNA 2 GPU
- Ray tracing
- 16 GB of 256-bit GDDR6 RAM
- Internal 825 GB “ultra-fast” SSD storage with a 12-channel interface (5.5 GB / s Raw
from 8 to 9 GB / s compressed) - NVMe SSD slot
- USB disk
- Revolutionary 3D audio engine
- 4K Blu-Ray disc player
The result of the integration of the 825 GB SSD, these are above all loading times less than 1 second. Thanks to this SSD, the PS5 will process data 100 times faster than the HDD of the PS4 says Sony at a conference. The Playstation 5 will be able to load 2 GB of data in just 0.27 seconds.
But also it is the pledge of more detailed graphics. Sony promises a transfer speed of more than 5 GB / sec. There is also a demo of the Unreal Engine 5 engine which shows how detailed the scenes can be on the console. To believe the boss of Epic Games, thanks to its storage architecture, the gaming experience is much better than what is done on PC at present.
Note that at the moment, a persistent rumor evokes major design problems on the current model of the PS5. Rumors that are unfounded to believe Mark Cerny, system architect at Sony, which promises a similar dismantling the console what did Microsoft with the Xbox X Series.
Finally we learned from Sony executives that the dematerialized part of PS5 games as well as PlayStation Now will now rely on Microsoft’s infrastructure. And this, even if the Redmond company is preparing to launch xCloud outside the United States.
What will be the games at launch and the PS5 exclusives?
Here is the list of games announced:
- Gran Turismo 7
- Godfall
- Observe System Redux
- Quantum Error
- Outriders
- Gods and monsters
- Gothic (remake)
- Rainbow Six Quarantine
- The Lord of The Rings: Gollum
- Watch Dogs: Legion
- Dying Light 2
- WRC 9
- During the Fallen 2
- New bluepoint game
And the list of games announced but not confirmed for the moment on PS5:
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (Part 2)
- The Elder Scrolls VI
- Starfield
- BioShock 4
- Diablo 4
- Overwatch 2
- New NBA Live
- Call of Duty 2020
- Project Awakening
- Sniper Elite 5
- The Sims 5
- Battlefield 6
- Untitled Star Wars Game
- Untitled Avatar Game
- Beyond Good and Evil 2
- Skull & Bones
- Elden Ring
- Payday 3
- Untitled Saints Row Game
- The Wolf Among Us 2
- Back 4 Blood
- Sounds of the forest
- Sea of stars
- 30XX
- Hytale
- Convergence: A League of Legends Story
- The Outlast Trials
According to Official PlayStation Magazine, the list of official PS5 games will be revealed before the month of July. Sources having their inputs from the manufacturers teasent a “huge” catalog that Sony has been refining for two years. An event that was scheduled for June 4, precisely to present the list of games, was finally canceled. But some studios like Bandai Namco are starting to reveal their titles for the PS5.
Sony has revealed that the PS5 will be backward compatible with the 100 biggest hits of the PS4. Sony is no longer talking about broad backward compatibility, unlike Microsoft, which announces an Xbox Series X backward compatible up to Xbox 360, which is a bit disappointing. A leak also tells us that the backward compatibility with the PS4 will be far from perfect at launch – Sony should improve things via post-launch updates.
What will be the maximum definition of PS5 games?
The information has more or less been confirmed by GameStop: the new Sony console should be compatible with 8K televisions. It should, therefore, be able to display a 7680 × 4320 pixel image. It is not known, however, whether this support will concern both games and videos (Microsoft had already done the trick with 4K and its Xbox One S). It also remains to be seen whether the games will benefit from such a definition natively, or whether they will simply be upgraded and the image reworked on the fly.
In addition, thanks to ray tracing, the console should benefit from a much better rendering of light effects. This technology was introduced on PC by Nvidia RTX graphics cards. However, the console, as we already know, will use an AMD GPU (Navi generation). Sony assures that all ray-tracing calculations will be performed in real-time, an area in which AMD still has to prove itself.
How far is Sony going to push backward compatibility?
Backward compatibility with PS4 games is already acquiredsince it is the new CEO of Sony Jim Ryan who confirmed it in an interview. On the other hand, it seems that only 100 games from the PS4 catalog will be playable on PS5. According to Mark Cerny, this is a decision related to the cost of backward compatibility. There is no longer any question of backward compatibility until the PS1.
Sony also wants to avoid any generational break between the PS4 and the PS5. Sony explains that if you start a game on the PS4 you can finish it on the PS5 without starting from scratch. A player on PS5 will also be able to play with players on PS4. Also, note that Sony will not be the only one to offer wide backward compatibility since Microsoft revealed s électionner old games from its catalog that will remain compatible with the Xbox X Series.
What does the DualSense controller for the PS5 look like?
Sony revealed, without much surprise, that the PlayStation 5 would benefit from a new controller, the DualSense. This time, Sony has completely revised its design and opted for the use of two colors: white and black. We nevertheless find the same layout of keys as on the DualShock controller of the PS4, that is to say, 4 emblematic keys on the right part, two symmetrical analog sticks, the directional arrows on the left, the buttons R1 and L1, the rear triggers R2 and L2, an LED light and a large touch area in the center. Unlike the DualShock, the controller has a USB-C port for quick charging, an additional microphone, a Mute button and a Create button instead of the Share button.
We also know some of the technologies that Sony intends to integrate. First, the haptic feedback that would ridicule competition. Sony would abandon its rumble technology in favor of a more precise, fine and credible return to strengthen immersion. The triggers L2 and R2 will be adaptive, which means that the publishers will be able to increase their resistance, which again reinforces the immersion. Sony says that this technology will offer new, more immersive sensations.
Jim Ryan said it himself during an interview with Business Insider Japan: “3D audio and the haptic feedback of the controller are also things that, when you try them, will surprise you so much they change the experience of the player. Even when playing a racing game like Grand Turismo Sport with a PlayStation 5 controller, it’s a completely different experience. Although the game is going well with the old controller, you will not go back after experiencing the detailed texture of a route via haptic feedback and playing with the adaptive triggers. ”
Another new feature: the PS5 controller would be able to detect the player’s heartbeat and sweat. Sony would thus integrate new sensors into its controllers, in order to analyze the biometric data from the user’s palm. The objective of such technological integration would be to adapt the gameplay to the state of the player. What changes everything at all the course of a video game when the user is calm or on the contrary when he is particularly stressed.
Sony would also consider integrating a rather original feature: sharing a controller. Concretely, the manufacturer wants to transform solo games into a multiplayer experience. The players could, therefore, share the commands of the controller via several controllers. For a fighting game for example, a player could manage the cross, round, square, triangle keys for attacks. Another could manage the movements with the joysticks while another would handle the powerful blows with the triggers. Sony could also allow the players to “pass the joystick” online. A leader would determine the playing time for each player, and depending on their performance, the players could play more or less long. Furthermore this dual sense will be compatible with the PS4.
PSVR 2: virtual reality also on the program?
With Playstation VR (PSVR), Sony has become the first console manufacturer to launch into virtual reality, but there is still a long way to go to offer something really powerful. Currently, the system is not as good as the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. The problem is that the PSVR is already pushing the technical sheet of the PS4 Pro to its limits.
The Japanese manufacturer should improve all of this. The PSVR2 would have two front cameras and a rear camera. The device would also benefit from a transparent screen, which would prevent the player from being completely cut off from the world before starting a game. And quite naturally, when the game starts, the screen is clouded accordingly to completely immerse the player in his game.
The most optimistic specialists hope for a 4K image per eye (8K in total). But it may still be too early for such a technological advance. We can also hope for quality controllers and a Room Scale based no longer on the camera, but on real, more precise sensors. A patent also tells us that Sony is preparing a new PS Move.
What design for the PS5?
Our Dutch colleagues from LetsGoDigital are the first to have created magnificent renderings from patents filed by Sony. They allow you to get a first idea of the machine, or in any case of the console development kit. There have since been several photos of this developer console:
A patent filed by Sony and released on June 5, 2020, shows the interior of the development kit. We can see a complex cooling system, adapted to the V shape so particular of the kit. We can assume that Sony has worked on this architecture. If the console will not necessarily look like the prototype, it could however be that it takes over some design logic, like its original curves. Likewise, there were rumors of heating problems encountered by Sony ( which has been denied by the company ), which could imply an imposing console with a lot of ventilation, like the devkit.
In parallel with this potential design, a capture of what seems to be the interface of the PS5 has also leaked on the canvas. As you can see if the image below, it could be a preliminary version of the console environment, stamped version “0.100.200”. It incorporates many features of the PS4 interface, starting with its tile navigation system, and animated blue background with icons representing the various emblematic buttons of the controller.
What do you think of what’s looming around the PS5? Share your opinion in the comments!