As expected, Sony will respond to the Xbox announcements with their own PlayStation 5 event prior to Xbox pre-orders going live.
The show will kick off at 1pm PST / 4pm EST / 10pm CEST on Wednesday September 16th. You can watch via PlayStation’s YouTube or Twitch channels.
PlayStation 5 Showcase broadcasts live this Wednesday at 1pm Pacific Time: https://t.co/W4gkVp7pdv pic.twitter.com/Nn33RT0yki
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 12, 2020
While this announcement doesn’t tell us anything, here’s what we’re expecting from the show.
- An expanded look at the PS5 hardware. To date we have still not seen a production unit in the flesh so we believe Sony will finally show it up close.
- An idea of the current launch lineup including an update on Spider-Man Miles Morales. We say “current” as due to the pandemic, we continue to hear that release dates are in flux right up until launch.
- Pricing for both units, launch date (November 20th most likely), and when you’ll be able to pre-order. You can expect pre-orders to go live the following week (same as the Xbox Series consoles).
- Details on the peripherals including the new 3D audio headset and camera (along with streaming information from the console using the camera).
Now, Sony hasn’t been very transparent with the PS5 to date so in addition to the above, we’re hoping to hear more on the following details as well. However, Sony has said the show is only 40 minutes long so keep your expectations in check sadly.
- Storage options. The PS5 comes with an 825gb hard drive in both configurations with no first party solution to expand. While using third party drives was discussed before, we hope to hear more details on this plan.
- More details on the hardware itself. As noted, we’ve still not seen a unit in production and there have been no teardowns, deep dives, third party looks, etc…
- What exactly is supported from a peripheral perspective. For instance, will Sony continue to only allow the PS Camera, or can users use USB cameras?
- What exactly is backwards compatible? Is it every PS4 game? We’d like to see a PS4 game running with some details on the enhancements the PS4 provides.
Our Take
After what has been a ridiculous wait from these companies, the veil is about to finally lift as we are now less than two months from launch. We’re ready!