PS5 latest news: Everything we know about Sony's upcoming console

The next generation of consoles aren’t far away, with Sony and Microsoft now unleashing new information for their respective machines on a regular basis. We’re now aware of the PS5’s name, controller and a few select features. Let’s dive in and give them the rundown. 

Xbox Series X has had a steady release of information thus far but it wasn’t until Mark Cerny took to the stage for his recent hardware presentation that it felt like the PS5 had truly entered the next-gen game.

During the event, Cerny revealed a ton of details about the upcoming console – from its 10.28 TFLOPs GPU power, support for ray tracing, custom 825GB SSD and expandable NVMe SSD storage slot. However, the event was full of a lot of technobabble and left a lot of people cold as we still awaited a glimpse at the PS5.

Well, Sony has now stepped up with the DualSense controller, finally giving us a taste of what the upcoming console might look like. Read on for a Trusted Reviews guide on everything you need to know about the PS5, from the latest news and release info to any newly-announced specs and features.

Related: PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X – Which next-gen console is right for you?

PS5 at a glance

On balance, we predict the following to occur in the coming weeks, months and, well, year:

• The PS5 will launch in the later months of 2020
• Sony has confirmed it will not be at E3 2020, opting instead for its own shows throughout the year
• In terms of launch titles, we can expect a significant selection of third and first-party experiences
• Some of the confirmed features include improved loading times, 8K resolution and ray tracing
• Your entire physical and digital libraries will be available at launch if all goes to plan

Related: Nintendo Switch 2

PS5 release date – When is the PlayStation 5 coming out?

The PS5 will be launching in the latter months of 2020, Sony has confirmed. We imagine this will land in November, ensuring the console is comfortably in the homes of players ahead of the Christmas period. We’ll be sure to share more specific the second we hear more, as it remains unclear whether the Covid-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on the next-gen console launches.

PS5 backwards compatibility – Will it play all my old games?

The PS5 is confirmed to feature backwards compatibility, as Mark Cerny (PS5 system architect) said, “PS4 graphics engines will run just fine on PlayStation 5”. A Legacy Mode was revealed for the PS5, which would allow developers to create PS4 titles for the next-gen console without losing any functionality. Those PS4 games will supposedly run at boosted frequencies, which could potentially result in improved visuals and performance.

PlayStation did suggest only the “top 100 PS4 games” will be supported by the PS5 at launch though, with more expected to revive the required patches at a later point. It remains unknown whether PS5 will adopt a “Smart Delivery” system like Xbox Series X. This feature provides players with a free upgrade to next-gen versions of existing titles, saving them a bunch of money in the process.

Related: Final Fantasy 7 Remake 

PS5 Specs – How powerful will the PlayStation 5 be?

Mark Cerny confirmed the specs during a video presentation. The PS5’s GPU features 10.28 TFLOPs, 26 Compute Units and a 2.23GHz variable frequency. The CPU, meanwhile, uses Zen 2 architecture and has eight cores. PlayStation claims this processor sees a 3.5GHz variable frequency.

The PS5 will also see a custom 825GB SSD, although storage will be upgradable with M.2 SSDs from the open market since the console features an NVMe SSD Slot. You can see the rest of the specs below.

PlayStation 5	PlayStation 4
CPU	8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)	8x Jaguar Cores at 1.6GHz
GPU	10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)	1.84 TFLOPs, 18 CUs at 800MHz
GPU architecture	Custom RDNA 2	Custom GCN
Memory/Interface	16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit	8GB GDDR5 / 254-bit
Memory bandwidth	448 GB/s	176 GB/s
Internal Storage	Custom 825GB SSD	500GB HDD
IO Throughput	5.5GB/s (RAW), Typical 8-9 GB/s (Compressed)	Approx 50-100MB/s (dependent on data location on HDD)
Expandable Storage	NVMe SSD Slot	Replaceable internal HDD
External Storage	USB HDD Support	USB HDD Support
Optical Drive	4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive	Blu-Ray Drive

Related: Cyberpunk 2077 Preview

PS5 controller – Here’s our first look at the DualSense controller

The DualSense controller sure is an eye-catching bit of kit and the immediate reaction suggests it could be a Marmite of a device. Possibly the biggest news coming from this controller reveal is that it likely indicates a radical PlayStation redesign for the PS5, with consoles past tending to stick with an all-black look.

Related: Best PS5 Games

Aside from the overall design, there’s a lot to dig into when it comes to the little tweaks across the new DualSense (RIP DualShock 5). Take a closer look and the new face buttons may get your attention. The new design looks set to ditch the colours we’ve become so familiar with and go for a muted look as well as a transparent/translucent design for the buttons as a whole.

Elsewhere on the front of the device is the new Create and Options button. Options keeps its name but gets a new logo – replacing the text. While Share has become Create, represented by three fanned out lines. We don’t yet know what the change from Share to Create means but Sony has said it will allow for new ways to “create epic gameplay content to share with the world.”

On the black area of the face of the controller, we have the signature analog sticks and a new button added for DualSense. The analog sticks do look extremely similar to the DualShock 4 however there seems to be a slight differentiation in the pattern. Whether this difference means a new texture for the sticks, we don’t yet know. The new button in between the analog sticks is for muting the microphone inside the controller. Sony says you can use the DualSense’s mic array for chatting with friends – however, it still recommends headsets for prolonged gaming sessions.

Moving to the top of the controller (we are still yet to see the back), the first thing to note is the absence of the light bar. Instead, this has been moved to a more subtle lighting effect behind the touchpad – suggesting PS VR support could be out for the DualSense.

The most interesting part here is the redesigned shoulder buttons. Sony is touting new adaptive haptic feedback tech for these new DualSense buttons and they’ve got a bit of a new look too – particularly the bumpers. The PS5 controller also appears to be joining modern smartphones in ditching USB-A, opting for a standard that’s slowly becoming universal – USB-C.

PS5 Cloud gaming – Sony and Microsoft are teaming up to take on Google?

The ability to stream games from the Cloud is increasingly important, and Sony’s weaknesses in this area have been previously documented. Hence our interest in the news that Sony and Microsoft have formed an alliance to build cloud-based solutions on Microsoft’s Azure platform, the 2nd largest Cloud provider after Amazon.

“The two companies will explore the use of current Microsoft Azure datacenter-based solutions for Sony’s game and content-streaming services… These efforts will also include building better development platforms for the content creator community,” according to the companies.

This follows Microsoft setting up a cloud gaming division this time last year, again based on Azure, to explore how to host and stream games from the Azure platform, rather than by running games on the console itself. And let’s not forget about Google Stadia, Sony and Microsoft’s unexpected partnership might be a sign of them planning to take on the technology giant in the years to come.

Nvidia GeForce Now also shouldn’t be discounted. The platform will tie-in the player’s existing library across a variety of PC clients, making it an attractive proposition for those who don’t want to build a library from scratch, which is the case for Stadia right now, with a few key exceptions.

Sony recently lowered the monthly and annual pricing for PlayStation Now, which now costs a far more reasonable £8.99 with a free trial also available for new users. This is most definitely the start of several moves by the company in a more extensive cloud gaming strategy. It’s a small step, but a necessary one if it ever hopes to compete with Microsoft’s efforts.

PS5 VR – Will your headset and peripherals work at launch?

It has been confirmed that existing PlayStation VR headsets will work with PS5 at launch, meaning there is currently no plans for a new iteration of the hardware to be released alongside Sony’s console. This settles some worries while also raising a bunch of interesting questions. For example – will virtual reality experiences explicitly developed for PS5 also work on these headsets, and will everything we need carry over?

Related: Best PSVR Games

There’s also peripherals such as the PlayStation Camera and Move controllers, both of which are essential for the use of PSVR, so will presumably be operable on the new system without any significant effort from the player. If so, we’d be delighted. If not, Sony would be best to clear things up during the console’s eventual reveal.

PSVR has now sold an impressive total of 4 million headsets, cementing it as one of the most popular forms of virtual reality on the planet. The accessibility of only needing a console and a selection of games makes it a rather appealing proposition to your average gamer. Sony is aware of that and feels like the medium has a long road ahead of it.

“I think that the hardware experience will improve the VR experience. VR has a lot to learn even at companies that have been making games for a long time. I realized that as soon as I started VR. I had to learn a lot because I couldn’t do it with normal TV games,” said Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida (via WCCFTech).

“But we had to have many guidelines for danger, but with the developer’s ingenuity, we were able to see how to do it, and VR makes us think about what the human abilities are, and after three years such knowledge is growing.” Here’s hoping things will only continue to evolve with the arrival of PS5 in 2020.

PS5 Games – Have any titles been announced?

Sony’s next-generation console is drawing closer and closer, and this means it’s becoming far easier to predict what experiences will be arriving on the platform both at launch and during the weeks, months and years that will follow.

With Sony having recently purchased Insomniac Games, and the enormous success of the first instalment, a sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS5 is already guaranteed, with the first title having left its narrative on a juicy cliffhanger we’re eager to see resolved. There’s also the likes of Resistance, Ratchet and Clank and others we’d love to see the developer revisit.

Horizon Zero Dawn is another first-party blockbuster that most definitely has a sequel in the works right now, ready and waiting to pounce onto PS5 when the time comes. While I wasn’t the biggest fan, developer Guerrilla Games produced a vast, beautiful world with a compelling story and mechanics to match its visual ambition. Combine that with ray-tracing and more powerful hardware and our jaws will be firmly on the floor.

Related: Best PS4 Games

While Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding is out now on PS4, we wouldn’t be hugely surprised if an enhanced edition of sorts lands on PS5 once the console is in the homes of players. The Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog’s harrowing narrative adventure receiving a similar treatment wouldn’t go amiss either, despite it coming to current gen consoles in June. The question is, will our existing PS4 library be automatically enhanced purely by being inserted into PS5? We imagine the reality is a little more complicated.

Oh, and let’s not forget Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The first episode of Square Enix’s epic venture is now available on PS4. However, it could be a cross-generational release or one exclusive to Sony’s new platform. Bluepoint Games, a developer renown for remaking countless classics, has confirmed it’s working on a big project for the next-generation console. Fingers crossed for a Demon’s Souls remake!

While existing franchises are all well and good, we’d love to see Sony once again venture into unknown waters with new IP. Sucker Punch is doing just that Ghosts of Tsushima, with the samurai adventure acting as a worthy swansong for PS4. Perhaps we’ll see FromSoftware, Naughty Dog or Japan Studio once again christen the coming generation with something new and exciting. It’s only a matter of time until we find out.

PS5 exclusives – Will it have its own unique games?

It will! While Microsoft has said Xbox Series X will be foregoing traditional exclusives in favour of embracing its full family of consoles, Sony will be doing the opposite if recent reports prove accurate.

Demon’s Souls Remake and Horizon Zero Dawn 2 are just a couple of rumoured titles doing the rounds right now, and will likely be major launch games for the upcoming platform. We’ll likely learn more about the PS5’s exclusive slate as we draw closer to launch, with Sony likely having more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

 

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