PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 logo on the top and The PlayStation 5 console on the bottom.

### First available

**Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, Singapore, South Korea*** November 12, 2020

**Rest of the world**

* November 19, 2020

**Indonesia**

* January 22, 2021

**China, South America**

* TBA

## Technical Information

### CPU

Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2, variable frequency, up to 3.5 GHz

## Timeline

### Precursor

PlayStation 4

The **PlayStation 5** (abbreviated as the **PS5**) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced in 2019 as the successor to the PlayStation 4, the PS5 was released on November 12, 2020 in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, Singapore, and South Korea, and November 19, 2020 in the rest of the world.

The platform was launched in two variants: a base model with an Ultra HD Blu-ray-compatible optical disc drive, and a Digital Edition lacking this drive, serving as a lower-cost model for those who prefer to buy games through digital download.

The PlayStation 5's main features include a solid-state drive customized for high-speed data streaming to enable significant improvements in storage performance, an AMD GPU capable of 4K resolution display at up to 120 frames per second, hardware-accelerated ray tracing for realistic lighting and reflections, the Tempest Engine allowing for 3D audio effects, and backward compatibility with most PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR games.

## History

### Development

The lead architect of the PlayStation console line, Mark Cerny, implemented a two-year feedback cycle after the launch of the PlayStation 4. That is, he regularly visited Sony's first-party developers at two-year intervals to find out what concerns they had with shortcomings in Sony's current hardware and how such hardware could be improved in console refreshes or for the next generation. This feedback was fed into the priorities for the console development team. In the development of the PlayStation 5, a key issue was the length of loading times for games. This is based on the size of data being loaded into the game, the physical location of data on the storage medium, and duplication of data across the medium in order to reduce load times. An important goal was to find ways to reduce loading time, particularly in games that stream or dynamically load new game areas as the player moves through the game world.

### Marketing and release

Cerny first publicly described the new console in an interview with *Wired* magazine in April 2019. In early 2019, Sony's financial report for the quarter ending March 31, 2019, affirmed that new next-generation hardware was in development but would ship no earlier than April 2020. In a second *Wired* magazine interview in October 2019, Sony said it intended to ship its next-generation console worldwide by the end of 2020. The current hardware specifications were revealed in October 2019. At CES 2020, Sony unveiled the official logo for the platform, which follows the similar minimalist styling of the previous PlayStation consoles and brand. Full specifications were given in an online presentation by Cerny and published by Sony and Digital Foundry on March 18, 2020. Digital Foundry spoke with Cerny in detail and published a "deep dive" on April 2.

A major game library showcase had been planned for June 4, 2020, but was postponed until June 11 due to the George Floyd protests. This presentation was also the premiere of the console's external hardware design.

Sony planned to launch the PlayStation 5 by 2020's end-of-year holiday period. The date and pricing was confirmed as part of a game showcase presentation on September 16, 2020; the release date in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, Singapore, and South Korea was confirmed for November 12, 2020, and for most of the rest of the world on November 19, 2020. A release date for China will be announced later. PlayStation 5's release in India was delayed because the name "PS5" was already trademarked by a different person, but was resolved in late October 2020 as the prior trademark was withdrawn. The launch in Indonesia in planned for January 22, 2021.

The console launched with two models: a base version with an Ultra HD Blu-ray compatible optical disc drive for retail game support alongside online distribution via the PlayStation Store, and a lower-cost variant lacking the disc drive and retaining digital download support.

Following the September 16, 2020 presentation, Sony stated that pre-orders for the console were to open at various retailers on the following day. However, several retailers in the United States and United Kingdom launched pre-orders that evening, causing a rush on pre-orders, including scalping as many stores' inventories were quickly sold out, and creating confusion. Sony apologized for the incident on September 19, 2020 and promised to increase more pre-order deliveries over the coming days and stock through the end of the year.

## Controllers

### DualSense

The **DualSense** is the **PlayStation 5**'s controller and was unveiled on April 7, 2020. It is based on the DualShock 4 controller that came before it but with an evolution to its design and capabilities influenced by discussions with game designers and players.

Unlike previous DualShock controllers, the DualSense has a two-tone coloring scheme (primarily white with black facing) and monochrome action buttons, marking the first time the action buttons are not colored in rainbow colors.

[*citation needed*]
It incorporates a more ergonomic design that is somewhat bigger and rounder than the DualShock 4. The light bar has been moved from the top of the controller to the left and right edges of the touchpad. While the controller maintains the same number of buttons as the DualShock 4, the "Share" button has been replaced with "Create" with an expanded focus on creating content to share with others. The DualSense has strong haptic feedback through voice coil actuators, which are intended to give better in-game feedback. The controller speaker has been improved and is now augmented by a new built-in microphone array allowing players to speak to others using only the controller. The controller has adaptive triggers that can change the resistance to the player as necessary, supporting an experience such as virtually drawing an arrow from a bow. Connectivity includes a 3.5mm audio jack and USB-C, which replaces the microUSB port on the DualShock 4. Its battery has been upgraded to a higher-rated capacity. Also, the black plastic piece can be easily removed, without any dissassembly.

With the PlayStation 5, Sony is having the functionality of the right face buttons in its UI consistent across all regions, with the cross button and circle button to represent the default "confirm" and "cancel" actions respectively, as they normally are for more Western games but swapping how they are normally presented for Japanese gamers.

## Backward compatibility

According to Hideaki Nishino, Sony's senior vice president of Platform Planning and Management, the PS5 is designed to be backward compatible with more than "99 percent" of PS4's 4,000+ game library, playable from launch day. The console is compatible with PlayStation VR. Because of PS5's high-speed SSD and increased processing power, many PS4 games gain from improved loading times or gameplay speeds "so that they can benefit from higher or more stable frame rates and potentially higher resolutions". Players can synchronize their saved game files through cloud storage or transfer them using a USB storage device so no progress is lost. Backward compatibility is enabled in part by the similarity of hardware architecture, such as "extra logic" in the RDNA 2 GPU that ensures compatibility with PS4's GCN-based GPU. Mark Cerny explained during a March 2020 presentation and later in an interview with Digital Foundry how CPU clock timing required particular attention; though the Zen 2 CPU has an instruction set to handle the PS4's Jaguar CPU, their timings can be very different, so Sony worked closely with AMD when developing the Zen 2 CPU to more closely match the Jaguar's timings.[8] PS5 backward compatibility may exhibit errors with some PS4 games, and does not include previous generations. The PlayStation 4's Share menu cannot be displayed but the PS5's Create menu can be used to capture screenshots or video. On October 9, 2020 Sony released a list of ten PS4 games identified as being incompatible with PS5.

## References

1. ↑ Klimentov, Mikhail (November 3, 2020). A feel for the game. *The Washington Post*. Retrieved on November 3, 2020.
2. ↑ Rubin, Peter (April 16, 2019). Exclusive: What to Expect From Sony's Next-Gen PlayStation. Retrieved on April 16, 2019.
3. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
4. ↑ Rubin, Peter (October 8, 2019). Exclusive: A Deeper Look at the PlayStation 5. Retrieved on October 8, 2019.
5. ↑ Template:Citation
6. ↑ PS5の気になるポイントをソニーに直撃！ PS4互換は検証中。Ultra HD Blu-rayの再生＆新コントローラーの詳細も. *Famitsu* (October 10, 2019). Retrieved on December 9, 2019.
7. ↑ Makuch, Eddie Makuch (January 6, 2020). PS5 Logo Revealed At CES 2020.
8. ↑ The Road to PS5. *PlayStation* (March 18, 2020).
9. ↑ Nishino, Hideaki (March 18, 2020). Unveiling New Details of PlayStation 5: Hardware Technical Specs. *PlayStation Blog*. Retrieved on March 20, 2020.
10. ↑ Leadbetter, Richard (March 18, 2020). Inside PlayStation 5: the specs and the tech that deliver Sony's next-gen vision. *Eurogamer*. Retrieved on March 18, 2020.
11. ↑ Leadbetter, Richard (April 2, 2020). PlayStation 5 uncovered: the Mark Cerny tech deep dive. *Eurogamer*. Retrieved on April 3, 2020.
12. ↑ Powell, Stephen (May 29, 2020). PlayStation 5: Sony confident coronavirus won't change release plans. *BBC*. Retrieved on May 29, 2020.
13. ↑ Dornbush, Jonathon (June 1, 2020). Sony Delays PS5 June Reveal Event. *IGN*. Retrieved on June 1, 2020.
14. ↑ Shuhman, Sid (June 8, 2020). This Thursday, See the Future of Gaming on PS5. *PlayStation Blog*. Retrieved on June 8, 2020.
15. ↑ Sherr, Ian (June 4, 2019). Sony's PlayStation CEO wants a seamless transition to its next-generation console. *CNet*. Retrieved on May 30, 2020.
16. ↑ Ryan, Jim (October 8, 2019). An Update on Next-Gen: PlayStation 5 Launches Holiday 2020. *PlayStation Blog*. Retrieved on January 13, 2020.
17. ↑ PlayStation 5 launches Nov. 12 for $499. *Polygon* (September 16, 2020).
18. ↑ PlayStation 5 release date delayed due to a person trademarking PS5 brand in India (en-US).
19. ↑ Seth, Hemani (October 28, 2020). Sony’s PS5 trademark dispute in India resolved. *The Hindu Business Line*. Retrieved on November 4, 2020.
20. ↑ PLAYSTATION®5 LAUNCHES IN INDONESIA ON 22nd JANUARY 2021 (en-ID).
21. ↑ Warren, Tom (June 11, 2020). This is the PlayStation 5. *The Verge*. Vox Media. Retrieved on July 28, 2020.
22. ↑ Warren, Tom (September 19, 2020). Sony apologizes for PS5 preorders mess, promises more stock over ‘next few days’. *The Verge*. Retrieved on September 19, 2020.
23. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 19, 2020). Sony apologises for PS5 pre-order chaos. *Eurogamer*. Retrieved on September 19, 2020.
24. ↑ Template:Cite news
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Nishino, Hideaki (April 7, 2020). Introducing DualSense, the New Wireless Game Controller for PlayStation 5. *PlayStation Blog*. Retrieved on April 7, 2020.
26. ↑ Sony’s new DualSense controller is its most exciting design since the original PlayStation (April 8, 2020).
27. ↑ Template:Cite news
28. ↑ Gravelle, Cody (April 8, 2020). Don't Worry, The PlayStation 5 Controller Has An Audio Jack. *Screen Rant*. Retrieved on April 8, 2020.
29. ↑ Square, Push (2020-11-02). Part of the PS5 Controller Is Very Easily Removable (en-GB).
30. ↑ Phillips, Tom (October 5, 2020). In a historic move, PlayStation 5 swaps X and Circle button use in Japan. *Eurogamer*. Retrieved on October 5, 2020.

## External links

* [1]
* PlayStation 5 at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 **Video game consoles**