Knowing that we’ll be getting next-generation consoles in about a year, rumors are starting to heat up about reveal and release plans for the PlayStation 5 (still not officially confirmed to be called that by Sony) and the next Xbox. Since the release of the PS4 Pro, many have been curious about how exactly mid-generation upgrades will factor into Sony’s future plans. If one rumor turns out to be true, then the PS5 Pro won’t be a mid-generation step up, but an alternate PlayStation 5 model offered immediately at the console’s launch.
Japanese journalist Zenji Nishikawa says that Sony is interested in continuing what it did with the PS4 Pro, releasing both a base version and high-end model of the same platform. Next generation, however, instead of waiting for a few years, they want to provide these options from launch, which means that 2020 could see the release of both a base and Pro model of the PlayStation 5 simultaneously.
Nishikawa’s claims warrant some consideration. He was one of the first to talk about the Switch Lite before it was announced by Nintendo, so while the reported simultaneous launch of the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro is currently just a rumor, there’s precedence of insider knowledge to back up Nishikawa’s comments.
Though Sony has yet to give a name to the next-generation PlayStation (at least externally), the company gave an exclusive to Wired earlier this year, heading off the rumor mill and starting to give some overarching specs on what the new console will be capable of. That hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning though, or developers to talk about what the PS5 could offer in terms of development capabilities. We’ve also seen an alleged leak of the PS5 dev kit, including some renders mocked up from the patents for the machine.
If the PlayStation 5 launches with both a base and PS5 Pro model, which one will you be picking up on release day?
[Source: Zenji Nishikawa via Wccftech]
