I really don’t think the communication surrounding the PlayStation 5 has been as bad as some enthusiast forums would lead you to believe, but it’s obvious there’s a lot we still need to learn about Sony’s next-gen system. Coronavirus has, in my opinion, turned the industry upside-down – but the manufacturer’s had a few months to adapt now, and it’s time for it to share a roadmap.
Microsoft will debut gameplay from several next-gen titles this week, and while this will no doubt hold interest for PlayStation fans as well, the Japanese giant needs to be careful it doesn’t allow its competitor to set the agenda. Xbox fans will have to wait until July to see first-party titles, so with rumours of a late May or early June PS5 reveal event, there’s still an opportunity for the firm to lay out its stall first.
The problem, in my opinion, is that we just don’t know what it’s actually got in the pipeline. The Team in Green has announced plans for monthly deep dives related to its new hardware, but PlayStation has been relying on the element of surprise. Recently we got a good look at the DualSense controller, but this information came out of left-field, without any build-up or pre-promotion.
In some ways, I have been enjoying the random nature of Sony’s reveals, but it can’t rely on this approach forever: it needs to produce some kind of timeline, so that fans know what to anticipate – and when to expect it. When are we going to see the console? When will the games be revealed? We’ve been relying on rumours and speculation for far too long now.
I think the outrageously strong first-party software lineup for the PlayStation 4 has, in some ways, impeded its PS5 promotional plans; it’s difficult to go all-in on next-gen games and hardware when you still have juggernauts like The Last of Us: Part II and Ghost of Tsushima to flog. But pandemic or not, the fanbase is becoming restless, and the organisation’s cloak and daggers approach is beginning to grate.
I know writing this article that it’s not going to age well: PS5’s full blowout must be imminent, because the system itself can’t be much more than six months away from release at this stage. But while I sympathise with external factors that have clearly muddled the organisation’s announcement plans, I think it’s time for the firm to step out of the shadows and start giving us a roadmap. It’s long overdue.
Do you think the wait for PS5 information has become tedious, or are you not as restless as the remainder of the web? Push the platform holder into announcing some kind of roadmap in the comments section below.
Comments 49
Even just the official artist's impression of the console would get the interweb into a frenzy.
@Incarna I don't think that's true at all. The problem with the web is that it only deals in extremes.
It's a bit tedious at the moment, though we'll likely forget about all this once Sony starts making the big announcements.
@get2sammyb The last deep dive that Sony did, everyone and their dog complaint about it.
The only thing left for Sony is revealing the console and price. That's it.
I think it was a mistake talking about the PS5 in Wire magazine article, what was it?, march or april last year and then go totally radiosilent for 6 months.
Sony should know better than do some kneejerk reaction to M$ like that and they actually promised an PS5 reveal last december (Playstation Experience), but they cancelled it without as much as an explanation.
I assume they did it to save money for the PS5 development or something but that was 2 extremely bad decisions within the first 6 months of their "reveal".
They follow that up with a logo in january 2020 - radio silence - deep dive with Cerny in march - again more radio silence - controller reveal in april - more radio silence and now it's may and not even us diehard PSfans have a clue if anything will happen before july (not for sure at least).
Sony need to bring in better PR people to be honest. I feel if they don't become much more open about their next console soon, they can skip the PS5 this year and relaunch it under more planned
circumstances next year instead because as of now, it feels like they are trolling us fans imho.
Of course I want to know everything there is to know about the ps5. But perhaps Microsoft is going balls out because they're trying to recover from the loss of this generation. So they're making a lot of noise.
What it Sony's plan is actually perfect? Yes, we're all anxious, but maybe that will make us consume all the information that comes out? I'm really hoping Sony dominates the next generation as well.
@Zeke68 You're getting too emotional. They're just doing what they see fit, and they have enough marketing people to decide what they think is the best way of revealing a console. We really don't need the year long build-up to a release anymore.
The way I look at it is this way. It's coming this year, great! Whether they reveal it tomorrow or next month doesn't really make a difference IMO. It's coming anyway.
@Octane
Ofc I'm emotional about it - I thought they would release it at the end of 2019 when they did the Wired article, but they manage to drag it out for nearly 2 years after that. Bad move from Sony imho.
Playstation 4 full reveal happened in the month of June, yes?
'Nuff said.
I think they'll do it when they're ready. Ms has what, three different Xboxes announced? I don't even know, and who even cares? Anyone?
The PS4 has still got a good few months of thunder in the tank. Also, the success of this generation and the type and quality of games they have released means that I for one am with them for the next... and yet am not really coveting dropping half a grand on a new console right now.
I wouldn't be surprised if on Thursday Sony reveal a teaser of the PS5 to try to take some shine off MS's stream.
On an entirely unrelated note..
Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners available in most regions for PSVR.
Hell yeah.
It would be nice to see a schedule so that it would end all the guesswork threads on other sites.
Knowing Sony....I'm not surprised when after this article they released a teaser for the date of the reveal the next morning lol.
They need to communicate, but personally don't think they need to do a roadmap or anything that extreme. One massive, livestreamed press conference would be epic if the content is good enough. But the longer they leave it, the less exciting it might seem next to all the info MS has released.
Why is setting out the stall early a benefit. It didn't benefit Xbox in the previous generation, I fail to see how it will benefit them now.
Both approachs have equal pros and cons. Xbox came forward in the last gen with "only online" for the Xbox One, and got slated to hell. Along came PS4 and stole the show with "We're keeping gaming as per normal, no locked material", and boom, Xbox never recovered for a whole generation, certainly primarily due to that major blunder they took with them coming out of the gate early.
So, I fail to correlate how that means that Xbox are suddenly going to steal the show. If history has taught us anything, it's sometimes better to wait, and see what the other cards are, and then react as soon as possible when the hype is intense, and come out with a buster move that will steal all the attention, I fully imagine that is exactly what Sony are intending to do.
Sony is holding their cards close to their chest for a reason. They are the current platform leaders. They may not necessarily "need" to do anything different from what they're already doing. Their attack is ready, but they likely want to position it as a counterattack for maximum effect. But, I think Microsoft are doing the same. So once Sony's bomb drops, expect MS to drop back, and then both parties to go back & forth dropping reveals in rapid succession. But you can believe, that if Sony says nothing all year, and then drop PS5 this holiday season, and simply say in a tweet, "in stores now", with so much as a whisper, it will still sell the buckets in retail.
Then there's also the issue of a possible delay from MS, and of price. If Sony reveals too much & MS delays their launch, that could potentially play into their release strategy & give MS a chance to adapt their strategy to counter Sony. A scenario I'm sure Sony doesn't want. It's already been stated by Sony that they are waiting to see what MS decides on regarding price.
Regardless, at the end of the day, what's coming is coming. People are annoyed because they're anxious to buy it & see what's coming next. But knowing won't get the thing in our hands any quicker.
Also, MS revealing so early, in some ways, already make their console seem dated. Like, it's old news already... Terrible marketing strategy imo. Having a new hardware product be considered "old news" by comparison to its competition, before its initial release has even occured.
As above,
All good things come to those who wait.
I agree that the tone and reveals make a difference and personally, neither have blown me away. In a lot of ways, my favourite console reveal was the Nintendo Switch, it sold the concept and the USP of the device well and then gave an indication of when you would hear more. Second major reveal had a release date
@get2sammyb while resting on their laurels may be a bit much Sony were great with their communication and service to the community in the struggling ps3 days. They’ve been coming across as arrogant recently and I fear it could cost them again.
By the end of this week, I feel like I will have a much better idea of what the Xbox Series X can do and how the games will look. Sony on the other hand... I have absolutely no idea. Lets be honest, both Godfall and the LOTR Gollum game really arn't painting a great picture of the PS5.
Sony have shown nothing yet, but I am sure they will by the end of the month. But the third party companies showing off screenshots are not doing the PS5 any favours at the moment.
Favourite part of the article:
'I know writing this article that it’s not going to age well'
😶
Just bought yesterday a gaming laptop. I need to be very honest, for next gen I am leaning more and more towards Xbox and Gold subscription.
Sony really needs to impress me both on software and hardware sides to convince me to be an early adopter this time...
@JJ2 This comment gives me a feeling that pushsquare does know what Sony is cooking more than what their writing lol.
@Zeke68
They revealed so soon only because they knew Spencer reveals consoles years in advance. It was the best move they could do.
One thing I think people misunderstand though. PR is just that...PR. The important is the facts and reality. It's too bad if people get influenced by stupid buzz words like 20/20 initiative and so on. At the end of the day, it's just advertisement.
Not to concerned. Will get the info in the coming weeks and no amount of complaining or impatience will change that. All I need to know is the dimensions so I can redo my game room lol!
@Leon_93
Or they got burned too often haha
@SirRealDeal
Actually they first did this "reveal" 13th Feb 2013...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UDHqZKeMZ8
This year, Covid-19 or not, they are slacking behind.
Sony have been treading water as the market leader for a while now.
Sony is to busy copyright striking YouTube channels that talk negative about The Last Ma'am of Us 2.
While Microsoft is sharing new Series X info every month, they have pretty much said the 1st party stuff isn't coming until July. That means Series X promotion before then is also PS5 promotion so the thing that would benefit PS5 the most at this point would be announcing that PS5 has its own version of "smart delivery".
I wish the exec team that handled the PS4 launch were still at Sony. Trenton, House and co handled it perfectly...
Sony are doing what they always do. MS has been more foreward this time and i think its worked to a extent. Sony may need to revise the way and time frame of future reveials as the so called war has already started for Fanboys/girls
My uncle works for Sony and told me they are going to reveal ps5 on the 20th of May and Skyrim 4K will be a launch title!
I think if they revealed something now, no one would care at all about the next games; TLOU 2 and Ghosts of Tsushima. MS are just in a position where they don't have anything else to show, while Sony are still waiting to release the last of the games of this gen.
"Soapbox: Sony Needs to Share a PS5 Roadmap"
No, they don't.
A presentation or release date would do.
Microsoft needs to communicate because they need to. They lost the current generation, so they have to be proactive to continue the goodwill and win fans back. On the other hand, Sony are busy with their first party games, they’re preoccupied at the moment. But I believe they’ll talk when they’re ready.
@Whately86 You are spot on my friend!!
@Glennh73 Only if you talk about content of the unreleased game. I say good job! I do not want to see them. You can talk about what happened with out talking about game content.
@Starkei I started the saving process at the start of this year, putting a tenner away each week and more if I have it laying around spare, the goals to have around £600 in the jar at years end for when i pick up the new console and a few games and unless they announce something big for after Ghost of Tsushima I'll probably be trading in my PS4 Pro and playing my PC backlog until the awaited day.
Everything is fine. Sony has gave us a time line already. They announced they will closely follow the PS4 time line. I am as excited as everyone else but can say seeing a picture of what the PS5 looks like will not make me want it more or less.
Sony's communication would be abysmal by itself.
Compare it to Microsoft though and they look even worse.
People think Sony still has big games to launch this year, well this isn't about the current gen it's what next-gen consoles can do. Microsoft has been so transparent on what to expect about Xbox Series X and its future and about to showcase their console with next-gen games running in this console, Sony on the other is stuck with their old formula to show the controller first and then the box itself which makes me think it isn't that exciting anymore of this year unlike how it was during 2013. So in my honest opinion, Sony needs to show or reveal something of this whole Month there's no point of keeping the box this late since everything has been changed since then.
Just over six months till mid November when the current gen consoles were released. I would say six months is perfect timing to do a full reveal with the box hardware, the price, showcasing a few games and hopefully an exclusive or two.
If they go past May without doing a full reveal though that's a wee bit silly in my opinion especially when to Mums & Dads, Gamer Pass is the obvious choice for their wallets right now when buying for their kids (a substantial piece of the market).
"the Japanese giant needs to be careful it doesn’t allow its competitor to set the agenda"
the competition have already set the agenda. they have shown of their new xbox and been talking about their roadmap for months. ms are gearing up for release and the new xbox is in production as we speak. now they are ready to show the games.
all sony have done is empty talk and shown off a controller so far. thats what happen when you get lazy and fat while resting on your laurels.
Why should they give a release date when you sure and release games. Yeah and drop your big news right with two big releases yes that would be smart. 😆 👌
Just show Knack 3 I am not to bothered now. When they show it they show it. Well I still got enough games to keep me going until the end of the year so I am ok.
I'm totally okay with the mystery. I'm just going to be living my life and then BAM and all the PS5 news will hit and it will be a glorious and exciting surprise. Any build-up creates hype and just upsets people, as they found out with their little Ted Talk a while back.
@Mintie That's some good saving!
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