Sony has been drip-feeding us details about the next-gen PlayStation for months now, a process which began with a Wired interview back in April. Thanks to the interview, we know that the PlayStation 5 (though it still does not have an official name) will feature an 8-core AMD CPU, custom 3D audio unit, super-fast solid-state drive (SSD), the ability to play physical media, and full backwards compatibility with all PS4 games.
A month later, during a Q&A session at Sony IR Day 2019, deputy president John Kodera seemingly confirmed that PS4 and PS5 owners will be able to play online together. There have been a few major leaks and rumors since, but on Sunday, Sony returned with a small but interesting reveal about its next-gen console.
In a blog post about the company’s efforts to work towards sustainability goals, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan announced that the next PlayStation will be even more power-efficient than the PS4:
I am also very pleased to announce the next generation PlayStation console will include the possibility to suspend gameplay with much lower power consumption than PS4 (which we estimate can be achieved at around 0.5 W). If just one million users enable this feature, it would save equivalent to the average electricity use of 1,000 US homes.
This is one of the commitments that Sony is making as part of its new partnership, the Playing for the Planet alliance. Sony and Microsoft both built low power, energy-saving modes into the PS4 and Xbox One, but it sounds like we can expect even more efficient technology when the new consoles arrive in 2020.
Sony has yet to announce a price or release date for the PlayStation 5, but rumors point to a fall 2020 launch, with the console likely to be unveiled early next year, possibly even as early as February.
