PlayStation 5 Release Date, Features: 2020 Launch With Backward Compatibility Reportedly Possible Due to Profit Decline

Sony is still mum about their plans for its next-generation gaming console that will most likely be called PlayStation 5 if it does not opt for a major branding change. But their declining profit in the gaming department could be a hint that the hardware will be launched in 2020.

Stocks of the company plunged by over 8 percent earlier this week in Tokyo where its operations are based. Bloomberg reports this is the worst decline Sony has seen since September 2015. It is being linked to the company’s predictions of much lower revenue in its gaming division, PlayStation.

Last November, it was reported that PS4 sales surpassed 86.1 million since its debut but the hardware only sold 8.1 million in 2018, which is down by almost a million compared to the previous year. While PS4 is reportedly still poised to reach the 100 million mark this year, analysts suggest that the release of PS5 could be the redeeming factor that Sony needs.

Asymmetric Advisors Pte analyst Amir Anvarzadeh told Bloomberg, “There is more downside as we believe slowing growth in its games division signals a very likely PS5 launch for next fiscal year and the ensuing costs that come with the launch of a new platform.” Launching PS5 in 2020 could be a strategic move for Sony, especially if AAA games like “The Last of Us Part II” would turn out to be a dual-generation compatible game, which means it can be played on both PS4 and PS5.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that PS5 is in the pipeline and it has been rumored to feature backward compatibility. Gaming fans now have more reason to believe this report as Sony’s patent application officially published last Jan. 31. The patent describes Sony’s backward compatibility program would work on a newer hardware console as its CPU “impersonates” the processor of “legacy” consoles to support video games designed for the latter.