Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

PS5 release date might have just been leaked by Sony

Published May 12th, 2020 2:01PM EDT
PS5 release date leak
Image: Djordje Novakov/Shutterstock

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

  • A job listing from Sony Interactive Entertainment states that the PS5 will launch in October 2020.
  • Sony has yet to announce a release window more specific than “holiday 2020,” and has denied that the listing is accurate, claiming that the recruitment site made a mistake.
  • Both the PS3 and PS4 launched in mid-November in 2006 and 2013, respectively.
  • Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

After a few weeks of radio silence, both Microsoft and Sony have begun to share more information about the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Last week, Microsoft hosted a next-gen gameplay showcase that offered us a glimpse at multiple third-party titles that will launch on Xbox Series X in the months to come, and on Tuesday, Sony unveiled the logo and opening video for the new PlayStation Studios brand that will unite its first-party teams.

More details will be shared in the coming weeks, as Microsoft has already announced that it will hold events once a month leading up to the launch of the Xbox Series X this holiday season, but Sony has yet to share its plans. All that we have to go on are leaks and rumors, and while chances are that Sony has yet to nail down a precise release date for the PS5, a recently uncovered job listing claims the console will be out in October 2020.

In a job listing posted by Sony Interactive Entertainment on Japanese career site Rikunabi, the job description states that the PS5 is “scheduled to be released in October 2020.” Sony has yet to be more specific about the release date of the PS5 than “holiday 2020,” which would make this a significant reveal if accurate.

Image source: Rikunabi

Shortly after this potential leak started making the rounds, Japanese video game publication Famitsu reached out to Sony Interactive Entertainment for an explanation. According to SIE, the release date was listed in the job description due to a mistake by the recruitment site. In other words, the October release date wasn’t accidentally spoiled by Sony in an innocuous job listing, but was an error by the site where the listing was posted.

That may very well be the case, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time an incorrect release date appeared on a real website, such as an Amazon product page or a LinkedIn profile. Furthermore, the PS3 and PS4 both launched in mid-November, as did the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Barring any major issues that arise as a result of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, it seems unlikely that either company will break this streak in 2020.

All of that said, there is one puzzle piece that fits with this supposed mistake. Last week during Microsoft’s next-gen showcase, Codemasters announced DIRT 5, the latest entry in the studio’s long-running offroad racing franchise. On the official Codemasters website, the developer says that DIRT 5 is “launching from October 2020 on Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, Windows PC (via Steam) and the current generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles.”

This likely means that the game will be out on current-gen consoles in October and next-gen consoles whenever they hit store shelves, but the job listing certainly adds some intrigue to the DIRT 5 release date.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.