It’s official, February has left the building, and Sony didn’t make any major PlayStation 5 announcements of any kind during the course of the month. It’s unclear whether this was Sony’s strategy all along, or whether the disturbing coronavirus outbreak is to blame. After all, Sony pulled out of three major events during February, including MWC and two gaming shows (PAX East and GDC). However, Microsoft last week revealed most of the Xbox Series X specs in an unexpected way: via a blog post. The company also revealed some of the new features of the console and confirmed the leaks that mentioned the formidable performance of the Series X. Sony is now two steps behind Microsoft, as the PS5 design and specs are both yet to be officially unveiled. But we do have more PS5 rumors for you, including one that might be the craziest potential leak we’ve seen so far.
Remember all the people who said the new PS5 and Series X should cost more than $600? It turns out that might be in the cards for both consoles if the following leak is true. The best versions of the PS5 and Xbox Series X will seemingly be a lot more expensive than initially believed. That would be a huge letdown for some buyers. But the rumor has an exciting part as well. Apparently, both Microsoft and Sony will launch their mid-cycle consoles — the ones that are supposed to be more affordable — at the same time as the flagship models.
The claim comes from a NeoGaf report, with a source who “has privately vetted their industry experience with the NeoGaf staff.” Here’s what this person had to say about the new consoles:
I heard that there are 2 consoles per company. The mid-gen refreshes are going to be introduced at release so that these consoles can run the entire 7yr cycle.
XSX that was released yesterday is the top end one. 12TFLOPS
There will be a base Xbox Series X that is slower than that one.Sony is releasing 2 PS models. The base PS5 is 9TFLOPs . Their other one is also top of the line to compete with XSX top dog.
This all makes sense now as to why people are getting mixed numbers for each of the platforms.
I also heard that the top of the line models will be expensive. No pricing but I would guess around $600.
Also no dates on when the top models will come out for PS5.
My guess is that they are going to release both models at the same time.
This is ALL I know and won’t be fishing for anymore info.
Several reports said in the past few months that the Xbox Series X might have a more powerful GPU than the PS5 (12TFLOPs vs. 9TFLOPs), and that’s what VFXVeteran is probably referring to above. If this info is all accurate, then you’ll have to pay more money for the best new PlayStation 5 or Xbox than you might’ve expected, since both consoles have been rumored to launch with $499 price tags. But you’ll be able to save money if top performance isn’t as important to you as the sticker price. Even the cheaper PS5 and new Xbox will be significantly faster than the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X.
The leaker did not provide additional information about any of the four console versions he or she apparently has insights on. Also, Microsoft didn’t hint last week that a cheaper Xbox Series X version might be sold alongside the flagship version. But if the details above are accurate, then Microsoft unveiled the specs of its most powerful 2020 console. Again, Sony is two steps behind Microsoft at this point, so a PS5 announcement of some sort is likely coming soon. Whether or not the company takes the wraps off of multiple PS5 models remains to be seen. Sony and Microsoft have both used mid-cycle refreshes as a big way to boost console sales, so it would be pretty crazy to see one or both companies abandon that strategy.
