Sony’s next console is called PlayStation 5 and launches Holiday 2020

Console manufacturer Sony has unceremoniously unveiled important details about their next-gen game system. Following their hugely popular console tradition, their new home console will be simply called PlayStation 5. We now also know first-hand when it is going to launch. Holiday 2020. Head on over to the official news post on the PlayStation Blog here.

Earlier this year, Sony Chief Architect Mark Cerny shared the first details about their new console. We learned that Sony was going to continue their successful partnership with AMD going forward. The biggest highlights of that interview were blazingly fast SSD storage, Ray Tracing capabilities and a much more beefier CPU & GPU.

Today, Sony CEO Jim Ryan and Mark Cery once again sat down with Wired and talked more about the PlayStation 5. To take the obvious out of the way, Sony is continuing with their basic numeration. So, those who had bets running that they would go for an exotic PSV, tough luck. The biggest takeaway from the interview is the system’s release date however. The PS5 will be launching next year in the Holiday season. Again, not very surprising but speculations about an early launch next Spring or Summer have been circulating on the internet for a long time.

Ryan also confirmed what Cerny told previously and added that the PS5 is getting a 4K Blu-ray player and a completely revamped user interface. This includes games being able to offer in-game information directly into the UI without having to boot them. A welcome decision in the age of service games and constant updates to multiplayer games.

Sony will not be abandoning disc-based games and will be upgrading the standard discs to 100GB Blu-rays. With Red Dead Redemption 2 and seemingly The Last of Us Part 2 coming on two-discs, it makes sense for them to move forward with an upgrade like this as games get bigger and bigger.

The PlayStation 5 will also allow players to choose which elements of their games install first: campaign, multiplayer, etc. The console will also include a 4K Blu-ray player.

Cerny also brought a prototype DualShock 5 controller to the interview where he talked about two new features never-before-seen in a Sony controller. Adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The former allows varying degrees of tension to the triggers which aim to deliver a more realistic and flexible feeling when shooting guns or interacting with the environment. Advanced voice-coil actuators inside the DS5 can convey the feeling of different textures like sand, mud, ice and more with the new haptics. It’s a much more advanced and nuanced technique when compared to the old rumble feature it replaces. The new DualShock 5 will also feature a USB C port for charging and a bigger battery than the DS4.

During the interview, we also learn that Bluepoint Games is currently working on PlayStation 5 game. With their awesome pervious Shadow of the Colossus remake, you should be excited what they are cooking up.