PS5 release date | Games, specs, price and design of the new Sony PlayStation

The Sony PlayStation has now been a part of gaming and entertainment life for a quarter of a century, with the first units arriving in lounges and bedrooms around the world in 1994.

Of course, the console has been through a lot of changes and generations since then – the most recent edition of the popular console was the PS4 which launched in 2013, with the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro variants joining the PlayStation family in 2016.

But with nearly seven years having passed since the PS4, it’s no wonder that gaming fans can barely contain their excitement at the prospect of a completely new console in 2020, the hugely anticipated PS5.

But what do we know about this brand new PlayStation, when will it be available to buy in the UK and across the world, how much might it cost and what games can we expect to be available on release?

Well with release imminent we actually know quite a bit – including that there will, in fact, be two PS5 consoles at launch: the PS5 with a 4K Blu-ray disc drive and a disc-less PS5 Digital Edition.

Thanks to several reveal events more details have continued to trickle out about the next-gen console, including the PS5 design, the logo, the specs, upcoming games and the new DualSense controller.

All things considered, the PS5 is shaping up to be a real crowd-pleaser with features such as 4K gaming, ray tracing, 3D audio and the biggest controller upgrade yet – while reportedly only set to last five years, this could be the most exciting console generation yet.

Below, we share everything we know so far around the PS5 release date, cost, confirmed games, specs and the overall PS5 console design.

When is the PS5 coming out?
PS5 price
PS5 logo
PS5 design revealed
PS5 specs
PS5 DualSense controller
PS5 games confirmed
PS5 accessories
PS4 game and accessory deals

When is the PS5 coming out in the UK?

Quick answer: Holiday 2020.

While there’s no exact date the PS5 is set to be unveiled, Sony has vaguely said it will be out for the “holiday season”.

In terms of an actual release date, we know that means before Christmas which leads us to assume a November 2020 or December 2020 release to coincide with the lucrative Christmas present and holiday gift market. The Xbox Series X has been confirmed for a November 2020 release – reportedly 10th November – and it’s highly likely that the PS5 will launch in the same window.

Exact UK dates have yet to be confirmed, but the new PS5 website that has spun up from Sony promises more details soon. It is understood that the PS5 will go head-to-head with Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox Series X for the same gaming market of Christmas 2020 – so expect to hear a lot more about both as we approach the end of the year!

A redditor spotted on Amazon UK a pre-order listing for Floating Grip wall mounts that claim to “make it easy for you to mount your console on the wall” – it comes with a release date of 19th November. Is that a clue to the PS5 release date? We now also know that the Xbox Series X is out on 10th November.

PlayStation 5 pre-orders and price

The PlayStation price isn’t likely to be announced until nearer the launch date. The first PlayStation retailed at £299, the PS3 at £425 and the PS4 at £350. It seems that the last console dipped to match the market, but with inflation and all the new custom hardware upgrades, the PS5 will likely cost more.

Many analysts and industry insiders have predicted the console may retail around the $499 price point, meaning it could be around £449 in the UK market. However, at this stage, this is merely speculation, and we’ll have to wait for a further announcement from Sony to find out.

However, we have to keep in mind that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft released a joint statement in June 2019 warning that if prices rose for manufacturing and shipping in China the console prices could rise too. Bloomberg is also reportedly Sony having trouble keeping the price down due to the updated tech.

Xbox officially announced the lower-spec Xbox Series S following a leak – a leak which also claimed the more powerful Xbox Series X would retail at $499 – adding weight to the rumours that both the Xbox Series X and PS5 will indeed launch at that price.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the PS5 Digital Edition is thought to cost somewhat less due to the lack of a disc drive. Luxury customising brand Truly Bespoke revealed the prices for a 24k gold PS5 in September, which was predictably eye-wateringly expensive – but importantly, the gold PS5 Digital Edition was £100 less than the gold disc-drive PS5. This matches rumours that the normal PS5 Digital Edition will see a £100 discount from the PS5 – so around £349.

What’s the official PS5 logo?

Sony revealed the logo at CES 2020. While there were no details of the console they did show off the PS5 logo, which was met with mixed reactions… It does stay in line with what PlayStation has gone with before though: simple white lines.

What does the PS5 look like?

View this post on Instagram

Your first look at the #PlayStation5

A post shared by PlayStation (@playstation) on Jun 11, 2020 at 3:00pm PDT

The PlayStation 5 design was unveiled at the 11th June PS5 event. While we already knew what to expect for the controller, the console itself hadn’t yet been revealed. Two consoles were announced – one with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive and a Digital Edition without a disc drive. The two will have minor differences, but overall, the Playstation blog says Sony aimed for a console that is ‘bold, stunning, and unlike any previous generation of PlayStation’.

The PS5 is a sleek monochrome design which in some shots appear to be tall, although no measurements have yet been released.

PlayStation 5 specs

When lead system architect Mark Cerny gave an interview with Wired magazine in April 2019, the world began to discover a little more about the next generation PlayStation that Sony has been working on for four years.

Although tight-lipped about the exact capabilities of the new device, the article made clear that Sony would be delivering a fundamental change in the gaming experience for users – a real step up from the PS4 or it’s Slim and Pro cousins.

Since then the full PS5 specs have been confirmed:

The console will have an 8-core, 16-thread CPU.
The graphics will run on a custom AMD GPU.
The new console will have custom 825GB SSD storage built-in.
The optical drive will run 4K Blu-ray discs.
The PS5 is expected to have a revamped user interface
The controller will have adaptive triggers and haptic feedback for a more immersive gameplay experience.
The memory interface will be 16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit
The memory bandwidth will be 448GB/s
The IO throughput will be 5.5GB/s (raw), typical 8-9GB/s (compressed)
There will be an NVMe SSD slot for expandable storage
The PS5 will support USB HDD external storage for PS4 games

Will the PlayStation 5 have a 4k blu-ray drive?

Yes, it will. The PS5 can play your 4k blu-rays for that cinematic experience. Originally this wasn’t confirmed, and it was thought the console would just have an optical disc drive, but don’t worry it’s coming! In fact, the PS5 event revealed that there will be two options at launch: one PS5 console with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive and another Digital Edition without a disc drive.

In that battle against the new Xbox, it makes sense to offer both- the Xbox Series X will have a 4k disc drive too, while the Xbox Series S will be digital-only.

The PlayStation 5 will also support 8k videos.

What features will the PS5 have?

While Sony has released the PS5 specs in all their technical glory, they’ve also gone into detail how this will translate to better gameplay.

The key features of the PS5 are:

Ultra-high-speed SSD
Integrated custom I/O system
Custom AMD GPU- with ray tracing
3D audio

What the ultra-high-speed SSD and integrated custom I/O system together should deliver is much faster loading and pace when moving through the game. There should be shorter load times in larger worlds which means new games can be developed with richer detail and fewer limitations on size or scale.

When it comes to the custom AMD GPU with ray tracing, PlayStation claims the extra GPU power will boost gaming resolution during play. The ray tracing, on the other hand, will enhance how light moves on the screen and across characters, meaning elements like water and glass will look ultra-realistic.

The 3D audio has been designed to immerse players in the action, hearing elements in different places including even behind you – even without high-end speakers.

What the combination of these features will ultimately mean, according to the PlayStation 5 site, is that developers will be able to start, “building expansive worlds and new play experiences in the games they design,” without the same scale limitations as previous models. This should provide a much richer and more panoramic gaming experience overall.

What is the PS5 DualSense controller like?

Modern looking, immersion, wireless and no need for a headset – those are your top wins of the new DualSense controller.

The new PS5 DualSense controller builds on the merits of the current DualShock controller. The key for Sony’s new PlayStation is the idea of a truly immersive gaming experience and, through the new design controller, should provide a much greater feeling of touch. According to Sony’s examples, this means you’ll be able to feel the “slow grittiness of driving a car through mud” and experience the tension in actions like “drawing a bow to shoot an arrow.”

DualSense Controller

Sony

The DualShock 4’s “Share” button is also being replaced with a “Create” button. While Sony is keeping full details of this close to its chest, we have been told that the addition is a way for players to “create epic gameplay content to share with the world, or just to enjoy for themselves.”

There’ll also be a built-in microphone, which will mean gamers can jump in and out of conversations easily without necessarily needing a headset to do so.

It is, of course, wireless too. There’s no news on how long a charge gets you, but we expect Sony will reveal that soon.

What games will be available on the PS5?

The PS5 event on Thursday, 11th June revealed more confirmed PS5 games coming to the console.

Some of the most eagerly anticipated PS5 games revealed include Godfall, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Oddworld: Soulstorm, Resident Evil 8, Demon’s Souls, Grand Theft Auto V, Hitman 3 and Gran Turismo 7.

Despite the rumours, there’s currently been no confirmation on anticipated games such as God of War 2. Read our full list of confirmed PS5 games and rumours.

Which PS5 games will be available at launch?

Wondering which games you can get your hands on as soon as the PS5 comes out? Following Sony’s PS5 event, we now know the following titles are expected in 2020:

Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Oddworld: Soulstorm
Godfall
NBA 2K21
Bugsnax
Deathloop

Will the PS5 play PS4 games?

For those who have sunk sizable investment into PS4 games for their existing consoles, it may be a relief to know that you won’t need to chuck them all out when your shiny new PS5 finally arrives.

PlayStation has stated that the “overwhelming majority” of current PS4 games (of which there are more than 4,000) will be able to be played on the new PS5. At the moment, you can also get Disney+ on PS4 as well.

See the best PS4 and PS4 Pro deals and gaming bundles available now

PS5 accessories

Early patent leaks in November 2019 may have given us a look at what to expect accessory wise. The sketches showed a mystery cartridge, thought to be expandable SSD storage modules. That’s nothing really new, but having something that’s easy to slot in is helpful and a bonus.

PlayStation 5 VR: Will it be compatible with PSVR?

Yes it will! Sony has said it’s moving more into VR with the PS5. There’s no mention of a headset yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

Which are the best PS4 game and accessory deals?

With the rumoured PS5 games looking like they won’t be out before the end of the year, there’s a lot of time to fill with your current console and loads of games to get your hands on. Plus, here’s where to buy PS4 and PS4 consoles now.