PlayStation 5 Officially on the Horizon, Here's What We Know

The PS5 could be closer than anyone suspected. As E3 looms ever-nearer and PlayStation confirms [...]

By Matthew Hayes

ps5

The PS5 could be closer than anyone suspected. As E3 looms ever-nearer and PlayStation confirms that it will only be focusing on a small handful of exclusives at the show, fans are left wondering what else they're working on in the meantime. Recent statements from Sony executives and a little bit of detective work suggest that research and work on the PlayStation 5 have begun in earnest. The first, and perhaps the most compelling, piece of evidence is Sony Interactive Entertainment President John Kodera admitting that the PS4 is nearing the end of its life-cycle:

The PlayStation 4 has been around since late 2013. It's been about five years on the market, which is on the younger end of what we consider to be the lifespan of a console. Generally, five-to-seven years is what we think to be a console generation, so despite the recent PS4 Pro and Xbox One X upgrades, we can assume that the PS4 and Xbox One generations are coming to an end soon. So what's next?

This morning Eurogamer published a report, based on research from a Linux-focused site called Phoronix, which seems to suggest that Sony is actively working with AMD's Ryzen technology to create a more suitable variant for the next PlayStation console. The gist is this: AMD has a new CPU technology that vastly outperforms the current "Jaguar" CPUs that we find in the PS4, Xbox One, PS4 Pro, and Xbox One X. Ryzen tech is, for the most part, designed for desktops and servers, and optimized for multi-tasking. This specialist from Sony is, theoretically, creating a custom variant that would be used in the APU that would serve as the heart and power-center for PS5.

We do have thoroughly documented evidence to suggest that Sony is in fact working with AMD on this Ryzen tech. We do not have clear evidence that this is definitely being done for the future PlayStation 5. We believe however, as does Eurogamer, that this is the most likely explanation, and Kodera's comment to investors about the PS4 reaching the end of its life-cycle couldn't have come at a better time.

If we had to guess, a holiday 2019 or spring 2020 launch for the PlayStation 5 seems most likely, and we'd bet money that a Zen APU will power the next generation of games, no only on the PS5, but on the next Xbox as well. Eurogamer thinks that a 2019-2020 launch for the PS4 is likely as well, and you can learn more as to why in their Digital Foundry video above.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com/gaming for all of the latest PlayStation 5 news as it breaks!

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