With The Announcement of Their E3 Plans, Sony Are Gearing up to Double Down On The PS4’s Final Years

Sony doubles down on its already announced lineup for E3 in preparation of the move to the PS5.

[chrisx]

great times ahead for PS gamers

[naruga]

i dont think PS4 is going anywhere anytime soon ...in Japan just started blooming with Monster Hunter World and some other titles (japanese sales of a console is major factor that determines the appearance of a succesor) and also nearly 80 mil consoles are out there ...they would be out of mind to even announce PS5...PS4 with its Pro cousin will have at least 6 years period before real hints of PS5 start to leak .... and after that ,PS5 and PS4 will probably get the same exact games but will just look and run alot better on PS5 (smthing like PS4Pro now ) ..

[Cmv38]

Yes, it's booming in Japan now, but the rest of the world will move forward. This isn't a bad thing. Sony cam make money from Japan and ready the rest of the world for the transition into the ps5 in the coming years.

[angelsx]

Give us ps5 in Europe and America and keep PS4 in Japan.

[The 10th Rider]

It's not booming in Japan though. The boost from Monster Hunter World has already ended a few weeks ago and it's back to the normal weekly numbers from before the game's launch.

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

I don't think the PS4 is going anywhere anytime soon either.There is still so many games that I'm looking forward to and the console is reaching it's peak years in my opinion as far as game lineup and price value.. I think 6 years is too much but hopefully we don't have to see a PS5 till 2022. Of course the only problem will be that the competition is probably planning to jump to the next generation sooner. Even though it makes sense because the PS4 is in such great position, I think it's too risky to allow the competition to get a head start on next gen, especially after what happened last gen. Still, I hope it's atleast 2021 and not 2020.

And who knows, it seems to me like it would be tough for XBOX One to jump to new generation so quickly also. While I'm sure they're eager to start a new gen because this one hasn't gone their way, they did commit so much to the XBOX One X. And it seems like abandoning that after only 3 years would be a huge waste for them.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

As far as I'm concerned, we won't see a ps5 until 2020 otherwise it's too early. I've got so many good games to finish on ps4.

[Omnislashver36]

80 mil means they're already overdue for PS5. The only reason they haven't is because of the final run of games and PS4-Pro. If it weren't for those two factors we might have even gotten PS5 this year.

Basically once the final set of games is out they'll have no reason not to release it.

[Xb1ps4]

A lot of people are going to be disappointed when the ps5 is no where in sight any time soon.. I’m happy with the pro and x, I can wait..

[Muzikguy]

Very strange predictions in here. All are far from right. PS4 is fine and we don’t need a PS5 right now

[Ceaser9857361]

I am excited to see those gameplay..

[strifeblade]

what a joke of an article. Pure speculation and hopefuleness of a ps5 within 2 years.Quite simply sony blew their load of exclusives and the only thing left to show are previous games announced. The pro is not even two years old and we are talking about a PS5. And anyone knows better than I do that ps4 is a huge success and still selling so whydisrupt it prematurely with a ps5 announcement? Ps5 at this point would feel nothing more than another refresh. Dumb article.

[MrSec84]

Hopefulness? New generations come every 6 years, literally the only one that was stretched longer was the PS3 and that wasn't in all regions, since Sony's biggest (Europe) had a 6.5 year gap from PS3 to PS4.

PS2 was selling ridiculously well (better than any previous console), but that didn't stop Sony moving forward with the next gen.
As for your argument about Sony "Blowing Their Load", they have loads of developers and partners to the point where they could announce a bunch more PS4 games, on top of what they already have announced for PS4 and still bring a decent launch window worth of games for PS5 from Late 2019 and beyond.

The company's past calendar windows supports a 6 year gap between PS4's launch and PS5's.
PS4 Pro isn't selling as well as the base model, it's branded by Sony from launch as a mid-gen refresh of PS4, not a new start to the 8th gen.
That midpoint was three years, November 2019 is 3 more, plus the tech exists to vastly improve on what even PS4 Pro can do, like at least 3X the raw power of that system, in GPU performance alone, with architecture improvements PS5 can easily have at least 5X that level.
CPU improvements will be ridiculous, with Ryzen curbstomping the you know what out of Jaguar, Ryzen 2 and 3 are even better.
Navi GPUs can offer GTX 1080+ levels of power for around $250, that's retail price, not what Sony will pay for bulk hardware prices.

Tech is available for a 2019 to make a huge step up in performance over PS4, for the same kind of price point that system was launched for.
Even RAM will see the usual growth in volume of storage and bandwidth increases over PS4.

Sony have said PS4's sales have peaked, it's on a slow decline now.
Releasing PS5 Fall 2019 wouldn't cannibalise PS4's final years, because it would be targeted at the early adopters if next, PS4 will continue to sell to gamers looking for affordability and a great library of content.

Literally every argument for PS5 being more than 2 years away isn't based on any real evidence.
The tech is there, costs, volume of parts for production will be, importantly we're well into this generation, a standard length of time for a Sony games console and more importantly developers want a bigger canvas to make their art.
Devs have had issues with game performance due to the CPUs, they can do more, with more powerful tech as a baseline and they can't do native 4K, which will be the standard screen resolution soon.

There's nothing dumb about this at all, it's dumb to argue against the facts.
Unless 7nm hits any issues over the next 6 months we're getting PS5 holiday 2019.

[Omnislashver36]

The Pro is not a new console generation. Plus it was released 3 years after PS4, and now you're saying 3 years after that is too soon?

You've contradicted yourself in virtually no time at all and logic is really flawed otherwise.

[Xb1ps4]

I don’t agree with you on the games but I agree about the ps5.. why are so many so desperate for a ps5 when the pro is a great console and still has more to offer..

@omnislash
So you are saying we will get a new console every 3 yrs? No contradiction it’s just too soon for a new gen..

[MadMax]

Completely agree!

[CaptainOmega]

Of course.... And with these games on the horizon, the final years for PS4 will be epic.
Detroit Become Human (Exclusive)
Spiderman (Exclusive)
Dreams (Exclusive)
Ghost of Tsushima (Exclusive)
"Shadows Die Twice (FromSoft Exclusive)
DevilMayCry5 (Possible Console Exclusive)
Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Timed Exclusive)
Concrete Genie (Exclusive).
Medevil Remake (Exclusive)
DeathStranding (Exclusive)
Days Gone (Exclusive)
Bluepoint game (Exclusive)
The Last of Us 2 (exclusive)

Playstation is Greatness.

[bluefox755]

That is a pretty epic list, even if they didn't have any new announcements, that is impressive support this late in the gen. Something that tends to taper off at the end, or never even start with other console manufacturers.

[MarineLineman]

Historically, PS consoles tend to have an amazing layer half and swan song year. Just look at PS3’s 2013: TLoU, MLB, GT6, Puppeteer, etc.

[CaptainOmega]

@Marine

you forgot to mention Beyond 2 Souls & God of War Ascension ;)

[Aura7541]

@Marine

A bit of a shame that Puppeteer never caught on with the general crowd considering it was a very unique game. I really hope Sony remasters it. Also looking forward to Toyama’s next game.

[Xavi4K]

Thats why I always say that we won’t see ps5 before 2020

I mean ps4 is killin it and there are many good games...system seller games to come why move to ps5 when you can still milk more from ps4?

Thats amazing List of games but my most inticipated game is definitly The Last of Us 2
I feel it will be the game of the generation.

[Omnislashver36]

They won't have anything to milk after those games are released though. The next set of games will be PS5 so why even delay it?

The only reason I see it coming out in 2020 is if GDDR6 isn't available until then or a Ryzen 2/Navi chip is possible then.

Game-wise it makes more sense for it to be released next year. Tech-wise maybe not.

[Segata]

Where in the world did you get Shadows die twice is a PS4 exclusive? It didn't even list PS4 or any system at the reveal. If it was it would have shown that. You are just assuming and taking your own assumption as fact.

[CaptainOmega]

Even if it’s not an exclusive to Playstation, there are still 11 more exclusive titles. Doesn’t take away from my original comment

[doggo84]

from software are guaranteed developing at least one more PS4 exclusive...

[starchild]

I agreed with the rest of his post, but the part about Shadows Die Twice being a PS4 exclusive isn't factual. It's likely multiplatform. But platforms haven't been announced in any case so it doesn't belong on any exclusives list.

[PhoenixUp]

PS4 is getting so many games why even concern yourself with PS5 at the moment

[MarineLineman]

It’s less a concern and more so an understanding that will happen, and likely within the next couple years. It goes without say that Sony is at the drawing board for PS5, and is probably well into developing both the hardware, and games for it. That’s just kindof how this whole thing works.

[MrSec84]

Sony were in the initial planning stages of the PS5 probably back in early 2014.
As soon as they get feedback on how PS4 fits dev's requirements they could begin working out what can move games forward and then check out hardware vendor's future roadmap to see which parts work best for their chosen performance targets.

Sony probably knew what hardware they'd be using early last year.
They only need to wait for nodes to reach sufficient maturity for costs and tdp targets to reveal themselves for final production hardware.

Besides clock speed tweaks PS5 as a console is likely very much set in stone for Sony and it's internal Devs and external partners even now.

[Eldyraen]

Just enjoy speculating. I'm cool with my ps4 but I like wondering where its headed next.

[ArchangelMike]

That assumption is just false. This is just a classic example of the gaming media running the hype gauntlet for clicks. Just because Sony are doing something different this E3 doesn't necessarily mean they are preparing for a PS5 reveal. Now don't get me wrong, we all know a PS5 will eventually happen (probably in 2020), but just because Sony wants to deep dive on the games its been showing off for the last 2 years, might just be that and nothing more.

Truth is Sony are in a position that they don't need to rush the PS5 to market. Heck they could announce a price cut and let the PS4 run for another 3-4 years before they have to worry about PS5. I don't think gamers are actually calling for the PS5 at this point either, we have so much to look forward to already. It's not like the games have dried up.

[ocelot07]

Yup I think all of the games we know of now and hear about at this years E3 will be the last big exclusives for PS4. Next E3 I feel is going to be all about the PS5.

[doggo84]

From first party

[MrSec84]

Considering all but one PlayStation home console has launched 6 years after the previous model it's more likely PS5 will launch in 2019, processing technologies reaching production maturity and costs being favourable for a mass produced console, it all supports the greater likelihood of a 2019 launch for PS5.

Even Sony's first party Devs and many partners released their last games with plenty of time to prepare their next titles for launch in time for a Fall 2019 launch.

Nothing from Shawn Layden's comments supports Sony won't have new exclusives to announce, be it from some first party Studios or external partners.

[JackBNimble]

Holiday season 2019
🤘

[doggo84]

Exactly. I think they realised what gamers want at E3 is less talk and filler and more gameplay reveals and game announcements. This DOES NOT have anything to do with the ps5

[rainslacker]

There isn't a single PS5 development kit out in the wild right now. If anyone thinks they're going to announce it this year, they're delusional, because Sony has much better, more immediate things to promote than a console that wouldn't be out until 2019 at the very least....assuming they send out dev kits in the next couple months.

Sony has been spot on with their marketing this gen, and I cant see any reason they'd cannibalize sales of the PS4 by announcing a PS5 for next year, or later.

[MrSec84]

There have been reports of 3rd party Devs having development kits for PS5, but no one's saying PS5 will release before Holiday 2019, but 2019 isn't just the earliest we'll see PS5, it's the most likely point in time we'll get the system's launch.

PS4 has peaked in sales according to Sony, just as with PS2 the company acts to put their next system in homes when sales begin to decline.
Latter generation sales aren't really affected by new hardware generations launching, new generations are snapped up by early adopters first and that's who Sony will be targeting to begin with.

Cost is an important factor in sustaining those late generation sales, PS5 will no doubt be more expensive than PS4.
Sales wouldn't be cannibalised just by Sony announcing the more expensive PS5, if anything when PS5 releases PS4 owners that bought their systems at the start of the 8th gen will buy into the 9th and get a PS5, the sales for PS4 will continue alongside.

[rainslacker]

Engine makers like Epic, and maybe Sony's first party studios...although at this point it's likely just a spec sheet and some SDK's. But there are no developers that have one otherwise.

I wouldn't expect PS5 at this years E3 at all. Some conference next year may be possible, but I don't think we'll see the PS5 before 2020. Sony has too much going on to distract with a new system now, and no one is really rushing them to release a new system.

Sony has underestimated sales all gen. It's peak in sales only saw a few percent drop over last year for a month here or there.

Otherwise, yeah, new gens don't really affect current gens, but I just don't see Sony rushing it, particularly since MS released their mid-gen a year later, and wouldn't be in a good position to release earlier to match Sony, coupled with the fact it means MS could one up them when they finally launch their new console.

Personally, if the games we're getting now can continue until 2020, or 2021, I'd rather see the next gen systems wait a bit on release, so we can get more hardware for the money. The longer they put it off, the more powerful the system can be...assuming they're targeting a price.

[foster426]

PS5 isn't coming for at least 2-3 years.

[CaptainOmega]

Nov 2020 would be my bet.

[MrSec84]

Literally nothing supports this viewpoint being accurate.
Past generations had 6 years between them, apart from the last to the current one (even PS3 to 4 was 6.5 years in Sony's biggest market, which is Europe) and technologies are available in mass quantities.
Many game developers are also coming off of launching games a few years ago, giving them plenty of time to have new generation releases ready for launch.

[Brugal]

You have to take into account that this was the only generation with an iterative console. I concur with the November 2020 launch. Sony drops the price for the PS4 and Pro.

[MrSec84]

@Brugal: No you don't, it has no bearing on the next generation, PS4 Pro was literally called a Mid Gen Hardware Upgrade by Sony and they defined it as the middle of the generation.

Maybe if all sales or the vast majority of sales were for it Sony may drag things out a bit, but the base system is where most PlayStation 4 gamers are gaming in the PS4 ecosystem.
Pro wasn't made to extend the generation's lifespan, it was made to keep existing PS4 owners within the PS4 family of systems, rather than getting into PC gaming for higher resolution gaming, which Andrew House and most Sony execs said when Pro was announced.

Sony have even said that PS4 has peaked in sales, even PS2's crazy sales in 2005 didn't stop Sony moving on and PS3's existance didn't stop them support PS2 for a few years to keep selling that system for it's 10 year lifespan.

It's only wishful thinking by a handful of recent adopters that PS5 is years away, it's most likely going to follow the same release schedule compared to PS4 as almost every other generational gap has.

TBH even in Europe PS4 released 6.5 years after PS3, Pro wasn't the start of a new gen, it was the midpoint of the current one.

Literally the only reasons for an extended lifespan of the PS3 were economic and the shift to X86 architecture in PS4.
With PS5 Sony can just stick with X86, AMD tech and the timeframe of new processing architectures and RAM reaching sufficient quantities, reliability and costs is basically upon us now.

Hell AMD has already announced a new GPU, which fits the performance requirements and it'll only cost about $250 at launch, at retail early next year, plus we already have APUs with ridiculous CPU IPC gains, with refinements in base CPU architecture coming or already here at retail.

There's literally no reason for Sony to hold off.

New PS4 owners that bought into the platform are the late adopters, they'll be the ones that buy into PS5 later next gen, when it has a bigger library of games than at launch, which is exactly what happened with PS3.

PS5 releasing next year is logical from all angles of the discussion.
Only a hiccup in 7nm production could prevent mass production happening for PS5 in August/September 2019, for shipment in the following months of 2019.

[MONOLITHICIDE]

@MrSec84

Well stated. I agree with you. Personally i feel a 2020 release would be the latest or best opportunity. Anything past that id be very surprised. Also, just because Mr. Layden stated no hardware announcements does not mean we wont see a controller shown at e3 or even PSX this year. But is also why i think sony will show a controller at PSX, console at e3 2019 with a release or fall 2019/2020.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Let's stop assuming we know exactly when the PS5 is coming. PS4 still has a lot of life left. Enjoy the now instead of wanting to jump into the future so fast.

[MAULxx]

We have & will but this is the last round of Sony exclusives for the PS4. It's not pretend. Just be realistic; the PS5 is imminent.

[CaptainOmega]

Yeah. About the last round of 6-9 exclusives. Looks pretty damn good. :D

[DigitalRaptor]

PS2 still had a lot of life left as the best selling console ever at that point, and yet Sony still trucked on with the PS3.

[Legatus]

What a man can say other than it's ALWAYS a good time to be PS4 gamer. Can't wait for all the awesome upcoming PS4 exclusives.

[Einhander1971]

Likewise not interested in PS5 as yet. PS4 is so damn good, enjoy what we have, that’s what annoys me with gaming community always wanting to keep pushing forward to fast. PS5 will come no doubt but I would rather the tech leap be substantial.

[GaboonViper]

Yep bar PSNow Sony have had this gen hands down, i imagine now they will have Guerilla and their other teams starting work on PS5 titles and engines with Cerny on the road talking with Developers.

[Elda]

This makes me wonder if this is the last hurrah of exclusives for the PS4 or will they have more new PS4 exclusives but they'll show them off at next years E3. Will they start the announcement of the PS5 at next years E3 though I still don't think it'll release until 2020,just wondering about all this.

[bluefox755]

"Microsoft, for instance, would have (and has, with Xbox and Xbox 360, both) phased out its support for its existing console entirely in preparation for its upcoming one. Sony, on the other hand, has what might be some of their biggest published games in history – The Last of Us Part 2 and Death Stranding – still due out for the PS4, presumably intended to give the console a nice send off, like how the original Last of Us was used to sunset the PS3."

An interesting take, makes sense. It's just hard to believe that it would come so soon. I guess I'm not that used to such strong support at the end of a console life cycle.

[showtimefolks]

fall 2019 at the earliest

benefits:

come to the market first
death standing, TLOU2 and sucker punches new IP could be cross platform launch titles
could get games like division 2,destiny 3 etc, at launch
all games will look/play better

did i mention the fact having the whole market to themselevs for an year will mean minium 10-15 vmillion sold before the next xbox is out and always being the lead console because of the install base

god of war
spiderman
GT sports
RDR2
FF15 the real complete edition

could also all gets ports at launch of ps5

sony is in a position ms was when they launched xbox 360 and we all saw how they were the ahead almost whole gen. at the time of pro release people said wait a year and match X's specs now sony is in a very smart business potison and ms really can't come out with a new console till 2020

[The 10th Rider]

I think instead of releasing any games cross-gen, they should come out blazing and announce that the console is backwards compatible and supports patches to improve PS4 games, just like the Pro and Xbox One X do. Then launch the console with performance patches for the most prominent PS4 exclusives.

Showing off games like Horizon, God of War, The Last of Us 2, Uncharted 4, Death Stranding, Spiderman, and more running in native 4K, boosted graphics, and 60fps along with a few exclusives for launch would be a great way to bring out a new generation.

[showtimefolks]

while i agree with you i think we may see many publishers simply re-release with all the added content and call it the complete edition. Thing about patches is many publishers choose not to release patches but ps5 better have BC because teh amount of games i own i would hate to buy them again. As a long time PS fan sometimes sony becomes very stubborn just because they bought that cloud based service they were pushing PSN-Now but i think moving forward they need to support BC. this is one of the reason they are eahd by so much that they don't need to match MS's services because they know they have the lead and they are deklivering a lot of exclusives which MS cam't match

[IAreBeMrLee]

I'm ready... my wallet is already sweating

[Sunny_D]

I

[PurpHerbison]

Whenever a console starts to get good you have to think about the next one. Go through maybe 2-4 years of remasters with an occasional good game here and there in the beginning... Then finally good games start pumping out regularly but oh no a new console on the horizon. Repeat cycle.

[Kabaneri]

Even though PS5 will probably release in 2020 I think they will support the PS4 well until at least 2027.

[MrSec84]

2019 fits with all the evidence available right now, from past generation cycles, to parts being ready and most cost effective.

Even a bunch of devopers have launched their last PS4 games in plenty of time to be well into development of launch PS5 titles right now.

[Eldyraen]

The only way I can see it really being supported that long is if some devs, especially Indies and smaller studios, shift towards Switch and then port to PS4/One. That way they get a piece of a newer system and current systems (last gen by ps5 though) for a very select few games. Sort of how PS3/Vita can still see a rare bone thrown their way because of the PS cross-buy functionality still in effect (probably less than once every 2-3 months now though).

I can see a few big games still releasing on PS4 the year of PS5's launch, but most of them will be that Spring and late Summer before the new Holiday and PS5 comes around. Most other supporters will be some 3rd parties like they did this gen, but hopefully better done than AC Rogue, CoD Ghost (and its terrible last gen versions), etc but only last for 2-3 years really (again, mostly Japanese games after that first year comes around).

[Inzo]

So this is the line up we know is going to get focused on a lot E3 and I am super excited but I think we can gear ourselves up for a few surprises as well.

[sdplisken]

Long Live Sony Playstation

[Master of Unlocking]

"in preparation of the move to the PS5"... Whatever. We've been hearing about a PS5 since the dawn of this gen. There's not going to be a PS5 for at least 2 more years but those journos are always looking for stories, so when the news of PS4 exclusives aren't enough, they keep spewing "PS5! PS5! PS5 is just around the corner!"
And two years from now they'll say "see? like we said the PS5 was just around the corner! Now let's talk about the PS6!" lol

Seriously though, I'm one of those PS4 Pro owners, and I think I can speak on the behalf of the others by saying that, since we just bought our Pro (1 year and a half ago is what I call "just"), we're not ready to shell out more money to buy a PS5, even in 2020. It's gonna have to be a PS5.5 for us, maybe in 2023 (?)

[ILostMyMind]

I still believe PS5 will arrive in early 2020 or, if in advance, late 2019. Anyway, all first-year (maybe more) PS5 games will run on PS4.

[Artemidorus]

Nothing has been mentioned about the Playstation 5 deluded author.

[ILostMyMind]

Actually, Sony said E3 won't have any new hardware talk.

[GrmpyolGamer]

If this had been MS making this announcement there would be outrage in the gaming media.

[Nyxus]

What do you mean?

[Kostche]

should be 6 more years of ps4 support if Sony does there regular 10 year plan, 2019/20 i think ps5 should be released

[purpleblau]

Too soon. We haven't really started with PS4 yet. It feels so fresh and not long ago(only 4 years old). Don't need PS5 for another 3-4 years.

[Vizigoth04]

1) Spiderman Gameplay
2) Unannounced AAA
3) Indie games
4) Ghosts of Tushima Gameplay
5) Unannounced AA
6) Red Dead Redemption 2
7) Death Stranding Gameplay
8) PSVR games
9) Unannounced AAA
10) The Last of Us Part 2 Gameplay

[Sm3000]

Ps4 came out in '14. I'd like to see 6-8yrs out of this gen, so '20-'22

[jc12]

PS4 came out in '13.

[T2X]

PS5 is probably coming in 2020. It's only 2 years away.

[jc12]

PS5 will be announced at E3 next year and released Oct/Nov of 2020.