Sony says PlayStation 4 successor is coming, but doesn't call it PS5 yet
"Next-generation hardware" is necessary, Sony's president tells the Financial Times.
Sources suggested that the next PlayStation wouldn't be a major departure from the PS4.
Sony's president reportedly has confirmed the company is working on the next PlayStation, but he stopped short of calling it "PlayStation 5."
"At this point, what I can say is it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware," Kenichiro Yoshida told the Financial Times on Monday.
He didn't give a sense of the form the next PlayStation might take, but FT sources suggested it wouldn't be a major departure from the PS4 and that its fundamental architecture would be similar.
Sony didn't respond to a request for further comment.
The report suggests Sony isn't ready to jump from consoles to cloud-based gaming , even as direct competitors such as Microsoft and potential ones like Google reveal game streaming services.
Industry rumors hint that Sony may be planning a tablet or multiple devices and it could be waiting for 5G data connectivity to become widespread to ensure fast game downloads, the FT noted.
"Sony would likely seek to use this successful PS4 platform as long as possible," Kazunori Ito, an analyst at research firm Ibbotson Associates Japan, told the business-focused paper.
The PS4 has sold more than 82 million units since it launched in 2013, and its exclusive Marvel's Spider-Man sold 3.3 million copies in its first three days of release in September.
A recent Sony patent suggests the company's looking to make the PS5 backward-compatible, and PlayStation boss John Kodera previously hinted that we'll see its next console in 2021. We've also gotten an indication that it's going by the internal code name "Erebus."
The next Xbox, rumored to have the code name "Scarlett," may arrive first, in 2020.
Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward also recently posted a new job listing -- a temporary associate game designer role -- for an "exciting, unannounced next gen title," suggesting game makers may be gearing up for the upcoming consoles.
First published Oct. 9 at 5:43 am. PT.
Update, Oct. 12 at 6 a.m. PT: Adds Infinity Ward job listing.
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