Ever since its announcement in 2019 PlayStation fans have been eagerly anticipating every morsel of information about the PS5. The next-generation of gaming consoles is always an exciting time, but the PS5 and Xbox Series X are especially exciting because of the massive improvement technology has made.
There are plenty of questions any prospective buyer wants to know about the PS5. Everything from what the launch lineup will be, to how much storage the system has, and what kind of audio it supports. Luckily, Sony has taken the time to detail a wealth of information.
Up until the PS5 releases there will probably still be a few unanswered questions, but in the meantime, here's everything we know about the PS5.
PS5 Release Date & Price
Despite all the info Sony has shared, two of the most important questions remain unanswered, release date and price. As of writing Sony hasn't confirmed either one, outside of saying the PS5 will release Holiday 2020. Most likely this means the console will be out before December, as Sony would want to put out the PS5 before Black Friday shopping. Even though there likely won't be deals on a brand-new console, having the system out and available on Black Friday is big.
In terms of price, that's also pretty unknown, although Sony has announced there will be two different versions of the PS5; an entirely Digital Edition and an edition with a physical disk drive. A leak through Amazon UK may have given some idea of the price of some version of the PS5. Amazon UK had a listing for a 2 TB version of the PS5 for £599.99, which would roughly translate to $765. A 1 TB version could cost significantly less, maybe around the $600 range, but fans will have to wait for an official announcement.
PS5 Specs
Full specs for the PS5 were one of the first concrete details that Sony shared, and the June presentation also showed off a couple of accessories for the system. Below is a list of the core specs for the system.
- CPU - 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)
- GPU - 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
- GPU Architecture - Custom RDNA 2
- Memory/Interface - 26GB GDDR6/256-bit
- Memory Bandwith - 448GB/s
- Internal Storage - Custom 825GB SSD
- IO Throughput - 5.5GB/s(Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed)
- Expandable Storage - NVMe SSD Slot
- External Storage - USB HDD Support
- Optical Drive - 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive
One of the more interesting points includes expandable storage, something previous PlayStation systems haven't featured. The PS5 will also be compatible with external storage out of the box, unlike the PS4. In terms of accessories, Sony has shown off a charging dock for the DualSense controllers, HD Camera, Media Remote, and Pulse 3D Wireless Headset. The DualSense controller is especially interesting as it will feature haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
PS5 Backward Compatability
Sony has traditionally had a bit of a problem with backward compatibility, especially with the PS4, which wasn't compatible at all with PS3 games. Luckily, the company is at least somewhat addressing that issue with the PS5, as over 4,000 PS4 titles will be immediately playable when the system launches. When Sony announced backward compatibility in March it said "A quick update on backward compatibility — With all of the amazing games in PS4’s catalog, we’ve devoted significant efforts to enable our fans to play their favorites on PS5. We believe that the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5.”
At the moment there's no official list of games that will be immediately playable on PS5, but fans can likely expect that any first-party Sony exclusives will be compatible.
PS5 Launch Games
Another of the more unclear bits of info deals with the launch lineup of the PS5, as Sony hasn't actually announced any games that'll be available at launch, outside of one that comes pre-loaded on the system. There are a few games, however, that have tentative release dates of Holiday 2020, that'll likely be out either at launch or very shortly after. The quick list can be seen below.
- Astro's Playroom - Pre-Loaded on PS5
- Fortnite - Available at launch
- NBA 2K21 - Fall 2020
- Bugsnax - Holiday 2020
- Jett: The Far Shore - Holiday 2020
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla - Holiday 2020
- Outriders - Holiday 2020
- Godfall - Holiday 2020
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Holiday 2020
Sony will want at least one first-party game out at the PS5's launch, and at the moment that's looking to most likely be Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Of course, closer to the system's launch more games will start getting release dates.
PS5 launches Holiday 2020.