PlayStation 5 Will Launch this Year Despite Pandemic Issues

The pandemic left many asking whether the next-gen consoles (PlayStation and Xbox) would launch this year. The doubts are understandable, given how much the virus affected human life across the globe.

Earlier this month on an episode of Animal Talking, Phil Spencer confirmed that Xbox Series X will indeed launch as scheduled. On the flip side, Xbox later announced that Halo Infinite would launch in 2021 and not with the Series X.

Previously, Arkane’s Deathloop had also backed out of its initial plan by confirming a delay until 2021.

Most of the delays this year are a result of the pandemic. COVID-19 has made things very difficult for the game studios. Developing a game requires a lot of effort and teamwork. Sadly, that wasn’t easy with the lockdown in place.

Many feared the same fate awaited PS5 as well. Sony, however, allayed those fears in a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

Eric Lempel, SVP and head of global marketing at Sony Interactive Entertainment, assured everyone that the PS5 launch will not be delayed.

“We will launch this year — that will happen — and from my end, we will absolutely make sure that we will bring all of the magic and all of the excitement of launches that we have had in the past.”

PlayStation 5 price will prove vital

Sony is certainly calm and positive regardless of the situation. The PlayStation community will breathe a sigh of relief with the latest assurances. Now all that remains is the price reveal.

The price that Sony and Microsoft set for their consoles will also prove vital to both console’s respective fortunes. Sony knows this well because of its PS3 launch fiasco. Moroeover, the price will be more vital than ever this year given how the pandemic has affected the global economy.

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Lempel shared his thoughts on the pandemic too.

“If the world was in a normal place, we would be out there with demo stations at different events, with the ability for consumers to touch the product and interact with it, and really understand what we are talking about.

“The challenge, early on, became how do we try to express this with a spot, and at the same time, how do we create a spot given the current limitations presented by the global pandemic? So this was a challenge on all fronts for us.”

Sony released the first global ad for PS5 a few days back. It gave people an idea of what to expect. The next-gen PS5 will focus more on senses rather than just visual graphics. The DualSense controller is proof of what Sony is trying to achieve with PS5.

Ultimately, though, the gaming content is all that will matter. Sony has revealed a few titles that will release with the launch, and we expect many more to be announced in the coming months.

“We’ve revealed some of that content, and naturally there will be more to come, but the way that the developers can engage with this platform, and create these new experiences with known IP as well as unknown IP, is incredibly exciting.”

With just a few months remaining, we expect the reveal to happen soon. So stay tuned for more exciting news on this front.