Almost exactly seven years ago, Sony announced that it would be hosting a new event in New York City to take place the following month in February of 2013. Gaming press from around the country were invited to “witness the future of PlayStation,” as Sony put it. Though only the controller, in the form of the Dualshock 4, and the logo were revealed, the event marked the first time that Sony itself used the term PlayStation 4 in public. The PS4 would then go on to launch in November of that year.
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Though it seems familiar, Sony has not exactly been following this PS4 reveal formula to the letter. It already confirmed the name of the new console, the PlayStation 5, through an online interview with system architect Mark Cerny. During the same interview, Cerny went into some detail regarding the specifications of the console’s internal components, and then, Sony also revealed the PS5’s logo just last week. All of these facts point out that Sony is doing things just a bit differently this time around. One possible explanation for this staggered marketing effort is to perpetually keep the PS5 in the online conversation so that it remains a hot item all the way through launch.
Sony has yet to reveal the actual console or the official controller, and all the public currently has to go on is a batch of photos of PS5 dev kits. There are a few rumors that suggest a February reveal event is in the works and, if the PS4’s announcement and launch are anything to go by, these rumors might have some credibility to them (but ultimately, speculation is simply that).
February 12
Back in August of 2019, an anonymous user posted claiming insider knowledge that a proper PS5 reveal event was scheduled to happen on Wednesday, February 12. Besides the insignificant fact that the PS4 reveal event also took place on a Wednesday, the leaker also claimed that not only would Sony be featuring new footage of The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima, but that major third party publishers such as EA and Square Enix would be present with games ready to present.
There was also a claim that a second iteration of PSVR would be shown off and given a tentative release window for sometime in 2021. The likelihood of this rumor being true are a bit smaller than it was when it was initially posted. Though PSVR 2 is certainly within the realm of being a possibility, the fact that there are virtually no leaks regarding the supposed unit might be proof enough of its current non-existence. The first part of the rumor could be true but seems like a guess, yet the attention this rumor received is no laughing matter.
In another much more recent leak, a user supposedly posted a screenshot of Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok which is itself a rumored title and is also said to appear alongside the PS5’s reveal on February 12. It wouldn’t be the first time the franchise has been used to tout new gaming hardware, so to some degree, it makes sense. But at the same time, Sony nor Ubisoft nor more credible leaks have added any more to this.
February 5
Another leak points to February 5 being the reveal event date for the PS5. This leak, from just a few days ago, has more details than the other one and claims that Sony will be showing off the console itself, its specs, its UI, the controller, and even some new exclusive titles. Most notably though, the leak claims that the PS5 will launch sometime in October and will sell at $499 USD with the tagline, “It’s Time To Play.”
Though it seems legitimate, the one glaring issue with the leak is that it claims Sony will return to E3 2020 to show off the console’s capabilities in much more detail and, as Sony just confirmed yesterday, it has decided to skip E3 again. That announcement might not completely dismiss the leak’s credibility, but it is certainly something to take into consideration.
Either way, Sony is going to reveal the PS5 at some event or another, so eager fans will just have to wait and see. If it is indeed taking placing in February, then confirmation should hopefully happen sooner rather than later.
The PS5 is scheduled to launch holiday 2020.
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