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The PS5 Is Real, But Is Not Coming Soon - Report

New PS5 rumors suggest the console may not be released until 2020.

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[Update] This story has been updated to address a mistake in wording which resulted in misleading information. The story previously stated PS5 may not run PS4 games, when the source stated that reports indicated PS5 games would not work on previous generation hardware. The original report does not mention backward compatibility between PS4 and PS5. GameSpot regrets this error.

Sony is planning a new console, but don't expect it to launch anytime soon. That's according to a report today from Kotaku, which cites sources saying the PlayStation 5--or whatever Sony decides to call it--might not release until 2020.

Two unnamed developers that Kotaku spoke with said they had knowledge of Sony's plans for a new system, and both said the system isn't likely to come out until 2019 at the earliest. However, plans can change. "On a multi-year project, a lot can happen to shift schedules both forward and backward," one source said. "At some point, Sony's probably looked at every possible date. It's all about what they think is the best sweet spot in terms of hardware."

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The report comes in the wake of recently surfaced rumors that claimed Sony might release the PS5 this year. That is looking unlikely, but nothing is certain at this point. Rumors have suggested that Sony gave PlayStation 5 "devkits" to some studios. A source told Kotaku that early devkits could take the form of a PC with a test version of the CPU and GPU of the end product, so it might not look like PlayStation hardware whatsoever.

The report goes on to say that, in the past, Sony has asked studios to keep these devkits in locked rooms and restrict access to only a small number of people. So even if a studio did have its hands on a devkit, not everyone at a studio might know about it.

Kotaku's report added that the majority of developers they spoke to, including those at Sony's internal studios, had no knowledge at all of a new PlayStation console.

Also in the report is word that the PS5 will play games that do not run on PS4, so this sounds like it could be a big step up. By comparison, games that play on the PS4 Pro also work on PS4. And games for Microsoft's Xbox One X also work on the regular Xbox One.

If Sony has any hardware announcements to make or to tease, that could happen during E3 2018 in June. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

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