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Sony says PlayStation 5 launch not delayed by coronavirus — at least, not yet

Aaron Mamiit
By

Amid the global disruptions caused by the spread of the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, Sony claims that the planned launch of the PlayStation 5 later this year remains on track.

In a statement on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s operations, Sony said that it expects “no material impact” for its gaming and network services segment for the current fiscal year.

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Additionally, a spokeswoman for Sony told Bloomberg that the company does not see “any notable impact” from the disruptions caused by the coronavirus on the release of the PlayStation 5.

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Sony reported various shutdowns for its offices and manufacturing plants across the world. The company also said that its business has been affected by travel restrictions, which has prevented engineers from Japan moving to other countries to help with new product launches and provide instructions on manufacturing processes.

With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic not yet in sight, it remains to be seen if shutdowns and restrictions mandated by national governments will indeed have no effect on the PlayStation 5’s launch. While it may be true that the console will still be released on schedule, production shutdowns may result in a lower number of units available upon launch, leading to supply shortages while manufacturing capacities recover and work to catch up to the demand.

Sony, however, flagged possible delays in the production schedules for games being developed by first-party studios and partner studios, particularly in the United States and Europe. There have been no definite delays announced so far though, with The Last of Us Part 2 still expected to roll out in May and Ghost of Tsushima in June.

PlayStation 5 still on track for 2020 holidays

Sony has not yet revealed a specific release date for the PlayStation 5, but it has confirmed that the console will launch in time for the 2020 holiday season to go head-to-head with the Xbox Series X.

PlayStation 5 lead system architect Mark Cerny recently discussed the console’s architecture in a presentation, which included details regarding its solid-state drive, processing power, and graphics processing unit. Cerny also talked about the PlayStation 5’s backward compatibility feature, which was later clarified to eventually work for most PlayStation 4 games.

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Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
Sony’s cloud handheld, the PlayStation Portal, will only stream certain games
Astro's Playroom booting up on the PlayStation Portal.

Sony has unveiled the price for its upcoming cloud gaming handheld, as well as an official name for the device: PlayStation Portal. However, one significant caveat to its functionality might sour people's interest in the handheld: It only supports PS4 and PS5 native games that the owner purchased.
PlayStation VR2 games can't be streamed to PlayStation Portal, which does make sense. More bafflingly, though, is the fact that the PlayStation Blog post states that "games that are streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming are not supported." That means you shouldn't pick up PlayStation Portal expecting to stream some PS3 and PS4 games available through PlayStation Plus Premium to the device. That's certainly an odd omission when it's currently PlayStation's most notable cloud gaming effort.
Although Microsoft is more closely associated with cloud gaming, Sony beat it to releasing a dedicated cloud gaming device. PlayStation Portal was first teased as Project Q during May's PlayStation showcase, but now, a PlayStation Blog post more clearly explains what we can actually expect from the handheld. Most importantly, we learned that PlayStation Portal will cost $200, which puts it underneath the cost of a Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S, and other cloud gaming devices like the Logitech G Cloud Handheld.
As for what you're getting for that price tag, it's essentially a decent screen attached to two halves of a DualSense controller. The controllers on each side share all the functionality of the DualSense, including things like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. In-between is an 8-inch LCD screen that streams games over Wi-Fi at up to a 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. All in all, that's fairly solid for a cloud gaming handheld that is this cheap.
Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Portal will have a 3.5mm audio jack, but also used the same blog post to unveil two new wireless audio options. There's the Pulse Elite wireless headset that features a retractable boom mic and a charging hanger and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds that offer similar audio quality in earbud form.
None of these products are available for preorder or have a specific release date just yet, but they are all expected to launch before the end of the year.

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Does PlayStation 5 have a web browser?
Playstation 5 with a controller.

We live in an era where basically every device in our homes can connect to the internet in some way, and most of them can provide in-depth searching through apps and web browsers. The previous generation of consoles was included in this modern experience, and even the Xbox Series X features full-fledged web browsing – but for those who have purchased a PlayStation 5, the situation is a little bit more complicated.
Does the PS5 have a web browser?
The PS5 does not have a traditional web browser in the way that the PS4 did, meaning users can't quickly pull up websites and surf the net with ease. This is no doubt a frustrating omission for those used to accessing the web from their previous consoles, and it's honestly a bit strange that Sony chose to leave out such a useful feature. However, while you may not be able to pull up a browser from your main menu, there is technically a workaround to gain access to an extremely limited web browser by finagling with the Twitter linking function in your settings, but it's an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that doesn't really function in a way that users can actually benefit from.

Unfortunately, Sony doesn't seem to want to add an official web browser app to the PS5, as the company has expressed on various occasions that it doesn't feel that such functionality is important for gaming consoles. So, if you're in the PlayStation ecosystem, it appears that your web browsing will have to continue exclusively on your old PS4. It's a bummer, but hey, maybe you could try getting one of those refrigerators with web functionality.

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PlayStation 5 Slim: All rumors and speculation
A PS5 stands on a table.

It's at around this point in a console's life cycle that companies like to release a new, slim model to reinvigorate sales, cut costs, and experiment with a new design. Sony has been trimming down its home consoles since the PS2, with each home console getting a slimmer, sometimes cheaper replacement a few years after launch. We're closing in on the PlayStation 5's third birthday and rumors abound about both a PS5 Pro and a PS5 Slim model, and yet Sony's remained tight-lipped about any iterations on the base unit. Still, some of these rumors and potential leaks may hold some weight and are fun to follow regardless to see how accurate they end up being.
Will there be a PS5 Slim? Here's what we know
Before getting into the rumors and leaks, know that until Sony itself confirms the existence of a PS5 Slim, everything that follows is speculative and should be taken as such.

The first rumors of a new PS5 model centered around a diskless version that could be paired with a detachable disk drive you could buy separately in another step away from physical media. This was speculated to be coming out sometime in fall 2023, but has been rolled into the idea of the PS5 Slim. This potentially imminent release date also lines up with statements Microsoft made about a new PS5 Slim releasing this year for $400 during the Federal Trace Commission (FTC) hearing.

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