GamingBolt recently spoke to analyst Michael Pachter from Wedbush Securities about his predictions for Sony’s next-gen console. Pachter responded that he believes the PlayStation 5 will be released in 2019 or 2020, but more likely 2019.
He justified this prediction by stating that the PlayStation 5 will likely support 4K, just as the Xbox One X will do, and that he believes Sony will want to wait until about 50% of Americans, and 35% of the rest of the world, have TVs that also support 4K before releasing their 4K system. A 2019 release date would also seem to line up with Sony’s release schedule for new generational consoles. The original PlayStation came out in 1994, the PS2 was released in 2000, the PS3 in 2006 and the PS4 in 2013. There’s six or seven years between each main console, so a 2019 or 2020 release date certainly seems likely.
Pachter explains that he thinks of the PS4 Pro as a “half step” up from the original PlayStation 4 and that he believes the PS5 will be another half step up from the PS4 Pro. He goes on to predict that the PS5 will be able to run at 240 frames per second and that the console will be backwards compatible with PS4 games. “I think Sony has probably got the next console cycle nailed down already,” Pachter states. “I think they already know what they got to do.”
GameSpot reached out to Sony about these predictions, to which Sony responded, “We don’t comment on rumor or speculation.”
