PlayStation 5 Rumors: Release Date, Price Confirmed for Digital Only Cosole? Sony Job Ad For ‘Next Generation Gaming System’ Surfaces, Fires Up Suspicion

 

Even as the Sony PlayStation 4 only released in November 2013, rumors about the next version have already surfaced after a job hiring for Sony’s “next generation gaming system” popped online. The PlayStation 5 will reportedly drop physical media and opt for a digital-only approach. The PS5 release date is also said to be targeted in 2020.

PS5 Is A Digital-Only Console?

Sony PlayStation Magazine Editor Ben Wilson said the PS5 will no longer use physical CDs for games as the console will focus on being a streaming service. However, Wilson pointed out that there is a possibility that the feature won’t be dropped because of its popularity. “Steam on PC has taught us that disc drives are becoming less and less necessary, but I can’t see them being phased out completely for a while yet,” Wilson told Techradar.

Former Microsoft President for Entertainment & Devices Division Robbie Bach echoed the same sentiment that the next generation of consoles will not use physical discs. Bach told Geek Wire that just like with other new technologies, the future of consoles might be about making everything readily available and accessible with streaming.

“Does it have a physical media? Probably not, so how does that look? Is it just a game box or is to more? What’s the balance between an Apple TV is and what an Xbox or a PlayStation 4 is? These are really interesting questions, and the teams [are] going to have to wrestle with those [ideas]. That next generation will be a wholly new game.”

It seems far-fetched that Sony would opt for a digital-only console after one of the company’ portable gaming device flopped. The PSP Go, a pure digital only version of the PSP that doesn’t support a UMD, was a complete failure. “We think price was one factor, but more important the download only distribution for PSP games never resonated well with core gamers,” Lazard Capital Market’s Colin Sebastian said as reported by Eurogamer.

Low sales of the PSP Go console is also an understatement as the device only sold 14 units in a week in Japan during the month of July, Gamesradar reported. This is a largely significant poor sales compared to other consoles which sold thousands of units during the same period such as the 3DS (46,637 units), PSP (26,511 units), and PS3 (23,322).

PS5 Price And Release Date

According to VCPOST, the PS5 will only cost around $600 and will release in 2020. The release date assumption was based on the interval of the release dates for each Sony gaming console. “PS1 was released twenty years ago followed by PS2 after five years and three months,” VCPOST reported. “PS3 wa released six years and eight months after PS2 followed by the latest PS4 with seven years gap.”

PS5 Confirmed?

The production of Sony’s next generation console seems to have been already confirmed since May 2015.  AttackOfTheFanBoy reported that Sony upped a job opening for a “senior game programmer” for Sony’s “next generation gaming system”. Here is the job listing that has now been removed according to the report:

“We have an exciting opportunity at Sony Computer Entertainment of America (PlayStation). We seek a senior game programmer to assist us in developing a game for r&d purposes related to our next generation gaming system. For someone passionate about gaming this is a very rare opportunity. After reviewing the below job profile, if this is you, please apply!”