Sony confirms that it's working on the next PlayStation

By Eric Abent/Oct. 9, 2018 9:47 am EST

The current console generation has been very, very kind to Sony. The PlayStation 4 has achieved frankly ridiculous success and is threatening to become one of the best-selling consoles of all time, and a consistent line up of stellar exclusive has only helped fuel that success. Still, all good things must come to an end eventually, and with Microsoft confirming that it is indeed working on the next Xbox earlier this year, Sony has decided to follow suit.

In an interview with Financial Times, Sony confirmed that it is indeed working on the next PlayStation, but it didn't say much else. Sony didn't even confirm that the next PlayStation will be called the PlayStation 5, but considering the naming convention the company has stuck to for the past 20 years, that's probably a safe assumption.

Regardless of what Sony declined to say, we now know that new hardware is in the works. Sources familiar with Sony's plans later told the Financial Times that this new console probably won't be wildly different from the PS4 in terms of architecture, which makes sense given the popularity of the PlayStation 4. The Financial Times also cited analysts who say that major areas of focus for the next PlayStation could include eSports and game streaming.

Neither of those are particularly risky predictions, especially given recent moves from Sony's competition. Just yesterday, Microsoft announced a new game streaming platform called Project xCloud, which will begin public testing sometime in 2019. Game streaming is likely going to play a big role in the future of gaming, so it's definitely to Sony's benefit to prioritize it in the next generation.

Sony has suggested in the past that we may see new PlayStation consoles launch in 2020 or 2021, so it's possible that it'll detail what's next for the brand at E3 2019. We probably won't be saying goodbye to the PlayStation 4 any time soon, but even if it finds enduring success like the PlayStation 2 did, the next generation might not be that far off. Stay tuned.