Sony officially addresses that it’s working on a new console

Sony’s PlayStation 4 has proved a major success story for the company, edging out the competition repeatedly when it comes to sales. Rumours of the firm’s tentatively titled PlayStation 5 have been around since before the release of its predecessor, but Sony has finally made it official that it is working on new hardware.

Habits within the gaming industry are forever shifting. Smartphone gaming has been constantly rising, touching heights of $70 billion worldwide, while industry experts peg cloud gaming as an eventual replacement for iterative hardware upgrades. It’s clear that Sony isn’t blind to this emerging market, pushing heavily on its PlayStation Now subscription to allow users to stream a library of games.

Sony isn’t done with its traditional consoles just yet, however, as CEO Kenichiro Yoshida revealed to the Financial Times that a PlayStation 4 (PS4) successor is currently in the works. “At this point, what I can say is it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware,” says Yoshida.

While Yoshida noticeably omits the term ‘PlayStation 5’, the publication’s sources state that “early indications were that it might not represent a major departure from the PS4, and that the fundamental architecture would be similar.”

It makes sense that Sony is working on its next generation of hardware, given that the PS4 is currently 5 years into its lifecycle. Previous generations indicate 6-7 years before a new release, however the success of the PS4 and lack of pressure from Xbox could see Sony eke this generation out more than expected.

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer did reveal that Xbox was currently “architecting” its next generation consoles at E3 2018, however the reveal was similarly cryptic. Once again, the two rivals seem to be treading a similar path, as Microsoft’s Project xCloud gaming service hopes to reinvent how video game streaming works to a variety of devices.

KitGuru Says: While many are hoping to see more information about the new consoles next year, the wait could be even longer depending on how climates shift. This is the internet, however, so speculation and leaks are likely to be rife in the near future. What do you want to see from a next-gen PlayStation or Xbox console?

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