Sony has talked a lot about its next-gen console, confirming the main specs of the PlayStation 5 well before its launch. The console is expected to drop in time for next year’s holiday shopping season, with Sony supposed to give it a proper announcement at some point next year. We already saw some demos of what the PS5 will be able to do, when it comes to speed, but we never got to see the actual console. The design is still shrouded in mystery, as are other PS5 launch details, including the exact release date and price. That changes today, as a discovery might be able to reveal some of Sony’s design concepts for the next-gen PlayStation.
Found by Dutch blog LetsGoDigital at the Brazilian INPI patent authority, the device in the following image looks a lot like a PlayStation console.
Sony’s technical director Yusuhiro Ootori is credited for the invention, an exec who showed up in the past in connection to PlayStation hardware. Ootori hosted a PS4 teardown on YouTube a few years ago, the report notes, and the same director is also credited for a PS4 design patent filed with the same institution in Brazil last year.
The new Sony patent, which describes a generic electronic device, was also registered with the WIPO database a few days ago. While there’s no mention of it being a PS5 design, the patent is categorized as Class 14.02, which includes “data processing equipment and peripheral equipment.” Game consoles, like the PS4, are also placed in the same category when it comes to patents. A side-by-side comparison between the two design patents is available below.
There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence so far to conclude this device must be a gaming console.
When it comes to the actual design, of the gadget, we’re looking at a product that screams “gaming.” It’s a lot bolder than the vanilla PS4 design you might have gotten used to, featuring lines similar to what you’d expect from some desktop vendors that manufacture gaming PCs.
Right in the middle, we have a sizeable V-shaped opening, which can be easily interpreted as the Roman numeral for 5, which would certainly fit the PS5.
Other design elements include an opening that could house disks, a circular power button, and several ports on the front. The device also allows for plenty of ventilation, which is something the console will surely require. The PS5 is already confirmed to ship with a powerful CPU and GPU inside, and the device might need better heat dissipation.
If this isn’t the PS5, then what is it? Is Sony creating any other type of gaming hardware? Because it sure looks like this device is made with gaming in mind.
Then again, there’s one other thing to consider, that tech companies often patent ideas and innovations that might never see the light of day in commercial products. The same goes for this Ootori patent.
