PS5 will arrive in time for Holiday 2020, says Sony

PS5 concept design
(Image credit: VRPlayer.fr)

Sony's PS5 is "on track for launch in this holiday season" according to a Sony yearly earnings report, despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The report (via The Verge), notes under "Game and Network Services" section noted that "factors such as employees working from home and restrictions on international travel" have presented challenges for Sony's testing processes and the "qualification of production lines". But despite these, Sony is confident that it can get the PS5 out in time for its own deadline.

This applies to software too, including the game developers under the PlayStation Studios umbrella that are likely making launch titles for the console, or at least games that will appear early in the PS5's life. The report specifically says: “At this point in time major problems have not arisen in the game software development pipeline for Sony’s own first-party studios or its partners’ studios.”

Also mentioned in the gaming section of the report, we see that Sony didn't have a stellar year with PlayStation last year, its gaming revenue dropping 14 percent due to lower PS4 sales. However, it points towards the importance of the incoming PS5. This makes sense as many PlayStation fans are likely saving their money ready to snag the new console when it launches.

It was rumored that the PS5 would launch in October, rather than the expected November release window for new consoles. However, this story was later proved false due to an error in the job advertisement that was the source.

So in all likelihood, we'll see the PS5 debut around the same time as the Xbox Series X in November. Both consoles feature innovations like custom SSD storage and ray-tracing enabled graphics, as well as a raft of exclusive games to tempt you. We still haven't seen the PS5 console revealed however, with Sony only showing off the DualSense controller at the time of writing.

Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.