Sony has officially announced that its previously delayed PlayStation 5 (PS5) event has been rescheduled to this Thursday, 11 June 1PM (Pacific Time). For us in Malaysia that is Friday, 12 June 4 AM. The event was previously scheduled for June 4 but was postponed due to the anti-racism protests last week that gripped the US and around the world following the death of George Floyd.
In a blog post dated 8 June, Sony thanked fans for being patient and understanding following last week’s delay. “We needed to step aside so key voices could be heard during this historic and important time,” said Sid Shuman, senior director for Sony Interactive’s Content Communications.
According to Sony, the virtual event will run for more than an hour. It is also said to be pre-taped and will be broadcast in 1080p and 30 frames per second. The company said this was done to ease the show’s production as many of its employees and developers are still working at home due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. It assured that the games seen during the program will look better when played on a PS5 on a 4K TV.
Sony did, however, suggest fans to wear headphones when watching the program as there will be some cool audio work in the show that would be harder to notice if heard through the speakers of a laptop or phone. Though this rather cryptic hint doesn’t tell us much, it is possible that this hints at the PS5’s 3D audio capabilities that are said to offer a more immersive gaming experience.
So far Sony has already revealed the specifications of the PS5, its logo and new DualSense wireless controller that is said to feature haptic feedback. Internally, Sony’s PS5 is speculated to use an eight-core CPU based on AMD’s third-generation Ryzen processors and will use a custom GPU based on AMD’s Radeon Navi hardware. This would allow the PS5 to output games at 8K graphics.
The PS5 is also hinted to use a Solid State Drive in place of a hard drive to improve loading times and it will be backwards compatible with current PlayStation 4 games.
There is a good chance that this Friday’s presentation will spend a lot of time on the upcoming launch games that will showcase the PS5’s graphical capabilities. More importantly, these games will be a crucial element to drawing fans to upgrade to the next-generation console when it is released this year-end.
To catch the PS5 event be sure to tune in to PlayStation’s Twitch or YouTube on 12 June at 4 AM to see what’s in store for the next generation of games.
