Update: Sony has postponed the planned PlayStation 5 event indefinitely. Although it did not cite ongoing Black Lives Matter protests as the reason, it did suggest the delay is to “stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.” It follows statements issued by Sony and PlayStation, among those from many other companies, in response to the protests. The original story follows.
Sony has announced plans to host an event focused on PlayStation 5 on June 4 at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. The PlayStation 5 presentation will run for just over an hour and will showcase new PS5 games for the system and the first real gameplay from Sony’s next-generation console.
Specific details beyond that have not yet been shared, but in speaking with GameSpot sister site CNET, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reiterated once again that PS5 is still set for a release in 2020.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Ryan teased, “The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe. Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware.” He also suggested that the June 4 event is only part of a “series of PS5 updates,” although it’s unclear if future updates will also come in the form of streams such as this. “[R]est assured, after next week’s showcase, we will still have much to share with you,” he said.
Though Microsoft has been rather forthcoming when it comes to Xbox Series X, Sony has kept details about the PS5 close to the chest. We do know the general specs for both though, so check out our next-gen console spec comparison guide if you’re curious as to how the Xbox Series X and PS5 objectively stack up.
Although the look of the console itself is still a mystery, Sony has already revealed the PS5’s controller. Called the DualSense, the next-gen controller is shaped similarly to previous iterations of the DualShock. It still retains PlayStation’s traditional thumbstick layout, with both sticks being parallel to each other at the bottom of the controller, with the face buttons and d-pad resting above them. It introduces haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
Epic Games recently revealed Unreal Engine 5, showcasing a tech demo that was played on a PS5. “It’s a fully playable demo, we plugged a recorder into the back of a PlayStation 5 dev kit and recorded the signal that came out through HDMI,” Epic Games chief technology officer Kim Libreri explained. “So it was a totally live demo and it’s replayable. It’s a little bit different every time you play it.”
Epic went on to add that the PS5’s SSD architecture is currently more advanced than what’s available on high-end PCs and that the console’s input-output capabilities will allow developers to render detailed graphics on par with film CGI when using Unreal Engine 5.
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