When the hell is the PS5 launch event happening?

(Image credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN / Getty Images)

We're almost at the end of January, which has PlayStation fans chomping at the bit for news about a long-rumored February PS5 reveal event. But with Sony still silent, and less than a year until the PlayStation 5 hits store shelves, when the hell are we actually going to see this thing?

Rumors about a February 2020 launch event for the PS5 started heating up in late 2019, and have reached a fever pitch over the last month. Sony's official coming out party for the PS4 took place on February 21, 2013, so it's not unreasonable to expect Sony to fully unleash its next-generation console during a similar time of year in 2020.

Among the most popular PS5 launch date rumors is the possibility of a February 5 event, which started making the rounds due to a 4chan post that later surfaced on Reddit. However, this anonymous forum post didn't seem to be backed up by any insider knowledge, and considering that February 5 is just days away, it seems unlikely that Sony would announce a launch event with almost no advance notice.

Another popular theory is that Sony may reveal the PS5 on February 29, as a savvy Redditor discovered that the NYC-based Sony Hall venue is "closed for a private event" on that date. However, February 29 is a Saturday, which makes it an extremely unlikely time for Sony to hold a press event.

Still, at the time of this writing, February 5 (the popular rumored reveal date) and February 24 are also marked as being closed for private events on the Sony Hall calendar. The venue does allow anyone to book a private event on its website, so it may be the case that these dates are just blocked off for a few weddings or really fancy birthday parties. But it's not hard to imagine Sony using Sony Hall for the PS5's big reveal, especially after the closure of Times Square's PlayStation Theater (RIP, I'm still not over it), where the PS4 Pro was unveiled in September 2016.

There is one more theory making the rounds online, even if it's a bit ridiculous. Sony announced the PlayStation Meeting 2013 on January 31st, 2013, leading some fans on Reddit to believe that it could do for the same on January 31st of this year. That's a day away, so we should know one way or another soon enough.

Adding more fuel to the PS5 reveal event speculation is the fact that Sony is skipping E3 2020, marking the console maker's second time dropping out of gaming's biggest show. That makes the likelihood of a dedicated PS5 event even higher. But when?

Microsoft already fully unveiled its Xbox Series X at The Game Awards 2019 in December, leaving the ball in Sony's court to fully take the wraps off of its next generation console. Then again, considering that the PS4 has sold more than 100 million units versus the Xbox One's estimated 43 million, perhaps the PS5 is already poised to win -- no matter how or when Sony chooses to show it off.

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.