Playstation 5 Release Date Countdown
The PlayStation 5 will be released in 2020 or sooner, as per our current predictions (see below). This release date countdown is based on careful review of historical trends, news and information, leaks, research, and current gaming data. The PS5 is expected to dominate once again.
| PS1 Release Date | December 3, 1994 |
| Time Between | 5 Years 3 months – 1918 days |
| PS2 Release Date | March 4, 2000 |
| Time Between | 6 years and 8 months – 2444 days |
| PS3 Release Date | November 11, 2006 |
| Time Between | 7 Years, 5 days – 2562 days |
| PS4 Release Date | November 15, 2013 (XBox beat by 7 days) |
| Time Between | Approx - 7 years & 1 day - 2558 days total |
| PS5 Release Date | November 15, 2020 |
When is the playstation 5 coming out?
The best estimate for the PS5 Release is November of 2020. The PS2 came 5 years 3 months after the PS1, the PS3 came 6 years 8 months after the PS2 and the PS4 came 7 years and 5 days after the PS3. Following this trend we would expect the PS5 to Release in 2020 or even later. Many argue that the PS5 will actually come out sooner. Read below to find how an early release date could actually make sense.When did Sony start working on the PS4?
If you guessed 5 years before the launch of the PS4 you are correct. Mark Cerny the lead system architect for the PS4 was once quoted as saying "the development of a next-gen platform started about five years ago." The concepts began swirling around as early as 2008! This was only a mere two years into the PS3 life cycle. Interestingly enough, Sony partnered with Bungie, the developers of Halo and Destiny, to design the PS4 controller so that it would be more beneficial when being used in first person shooters.
In 2012 development kits started going out to developers. These were bare bones PC rigs with the new AMD Accelerated Processing Unit chipset included. They were codenamed "Orbis." Sony officially announced the PS4 in February of 2013 at a special event, thus revealing its existence to the world.
Could the PS5 Release sooner?
While trends would dictate that the release date is in 2020, there have been signs that the PS5 could be coming to us much sooner. As early as 2017 in fact! There isn't any concrete evidence to suggest this yet, but we know that Sony is working on the PS5, and we know that the visions of both PlayStation and its developers are moving faster than technology allows. Take project Morpheus for example. Once we attach a virtual reality headset to the PS4, we're limiting the power it can output because we now have this new method of input that requires its own percentage of the PS4's power.
While the PS4 is far more powerful than the PS3, it still pales in comparison to the top-of-the-line PC builds out there. Without the ability to consistently upgrade the hardware as games become bigger and more demanding, the PS4 is going to run out of power sooner than later. We may not make it to 2020 with the power that it has in comparison to the games developers want to make. Unfortunately, Sony didn't create the PS4 with a long-term solution for hardware demands. It is what it is and once that juice runs out, they're going to need something better.
This has already been expressed by Shuhei Yoshida, the President of Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment. In a quote that you can read in one our news articles below, he said that the PS5 depends on developer demand. This, combined with recent reports that AMD is working on their next chip sets means that the new console is not only being considered, it's most likely being engineered as we speak.
Why People Get Angry (or Don't) about Shorter Life Cycles
Game consoles represent huge investments for consumers. Between the games, the accessories, and the subscriptions, it's no wonder people get angry when we bring up the concept of yet another console. Boy oh boy, though, do people get angry! If you try to bring up the subject on forums like Reddit, expect to sufficiently "ripped a new one," as it were.
People are protective of their investments, which results in kind of a hostile and hush-hush environment for people like us who dare to dream. What's interesting though is the double standard that exists in the world of technology. Bear with me for a moment here, let's consider something:
- A new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone comes out each year and people rush to buy it, no questions asked.
- A new console is hinted at, but won't be out for several years, and people lose their minds
What's the deal? I get that these two examples cater to different types of consumers, but seriously? The level of acceptance versus the level of hostility is just insane. Here's the problem though: technology outpaces consoles insanely fast. Anyone who is a PC gamer will know, just when you think you have the greatest rig, a new GPU or CPU comes out and suddenly you're obsolete again.
The PS4's hardware is amazing compared to the PS3, but it's already outdated by a long shot when you compare it to modern gaming PC's. Since you can't swap out parts in the PS4 or in any home console for that matter, you need to replace it sooner to keep up with technology.
That's the hard way of looking at it, but Sony has a more level-headed approach. I'm of course referring to Shuhei Yoshida's quote regarding the PS5 when he said that developers will decide the right time to release it. If they don't have the power they need, then it's time for PS5. Classic cryptic Sony talk, but a solid outlook.
Of course, if you ask the Sony President on the American side, Andrew House, he has a different quote: "Not giving hard numbers, but the best guidance that I think I can offer based on the landscape we see right now, is that we have high hopes that the PlayStation 4 will exceed the overall life cycle of the PlayStation 3. It remains a significant question mark as to whether this will approach or exceed that of PlayStation 2."
That's going to be a tall order with the way technology is progressing. Taking the two quotes from each of these Sony executives, they almost sound like they're at odds with one another as to what they want from the PS4 life cycle. Obviously they want their product to remain relevant, but it's only a matter of time before developers will want that extra power.
So what's the alternative? Build a better console faster than before? No, probably not. Instead, it's likely that Sony will need to adapt to a more service-oriented future that turns the home console into more of a set-top box like Amazon Fire TV or Roku, or even Apple TV.
If games took the form of apps and streamed to your television from cloud servers, then Sony would have no need to release new consoles. Instead they would sell the games through these streaming boxes and possibly offer a subscription like PlayStation Now as well.
As it stands, the PS4 is selling extremely well and beating out the competition. With factors like PlayStation VR and the rising tide of new technology though, it's going to run out of runway sooner than later. The developers will need more power and angry fans or not, we'll need to start talking about the PS5.
Playstation Life Cycles
Looking at the cycles of past PlayStations can we begin to chart a course of when we should expect to see the PlayStation 5! Back in 1994, Sony unleashed the PlayStation on the world, a bastion of high-end technology that changed gaming as we know it forever. It was only six years later that it outdid itself with the PlayStation 2, a system that many still believe is the crowning pinnacle of the PlayStation brand. It made history as one of the best-selling video game consoles ever. Following a pattern, six years later the PlayStation 3 was released, ushering in an era of online games and networks that once again changed the face of gaming forever. Then came the PS4, which blew it's rival the Xbox One out of the water.
