​Next-gen PlayStation 5 specs revealed ​

Sony has revealed new details of its next generation PlayStation 5 console after the specs of the next Xbox Series X were revealed earlier this week.

The company held a livestream early this morning to announce new details after another event was cancelled.

But we still haven’t heard the most important detail: the price.

The livestream also didn’t provide any further information on what the console might look like.

As expected, the PS5 appears to share several features with the next generation Xbox.

Both will use an 8-core AMD chip, though the PlayStation one will be clocked at a lower frequency (this makes it slower but could make it more stable, energy efficient, and cooler).

PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny announced the details in the livestream which you can watch below.

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The two new consoles will also use similar graphics processors, a custom one also based on AMD’s architecture.

The PS5’s appears to be less powerful, rated at 10.3 teraflops, while the Xbox is rated at 12.

It’s still a massive increase over the last generation and Sony also expects it will be capable of gaming in 4K at 120fps, as well as handling 8K resolutions and VR applications.

But it’s not just about power statistics.

A feature called “ray tracing” will render games more realistically.

“Ray tracing simulates the way light moves in real life, and how it bounces off various surfaces,” Sony explained on its blog.

“Games that take advantage of this feature will render objects much more accurately, and with heightened realism. Water, glass, light refraction, a character’s hair and so on, will look even more realistic.”

The Xbox also has ray tracing support.

Also like the Xbox, PlayStation claims its move to solid state storage, combined with software enhancements, will eliminate loading times and allow developers to create games with “expansive worlds and new play experiences”.

The PlayStation specs list shows a capacity of 825GB, less than the 1TB storage on the Xbox.
 

PlayStation is also looking to improve how games sound as well as look.

Audio is an important part of the immersive gaming experience. It’s the reason some gamers spend hundreds of dollars on fancy headsets that allow you to hear the footsteps of your rivals before they can sneak up and attack you.

Uncompressed audio is also a reason behind the huge and ever expanding file sizes of modern games.

To increase sound capabilities, Sony has created its own 3D Audio engine, allowing you to hear clearer sound and identify where the sound is coming from.

“The sounds you hear while playing will offer a greater sense of presence and locality. You’ll be able to hear raindrops hitting different surfaces all around you, and you can hear and precisely locate where an enemy is lurking behind you,” the company said.

Sony is also working on backwards compatibility to give loyal PlayStation fans a chance to play their old games on the new hardware.

Xbox has also announce its next console will be backwards compatible all the way back to the original console.

Sony appears to be less advanced on that front, but currently expects the top 100 PS4 games (ranked by play time) will be mostly playable at launch, but the company said it will expand backwards compatibility further in the future.

The next-gen of consoles aren’t due out until around November, but there are fears the coronavirus pandemic could push the release back.

The impact on manufacturing could also lead to an increase in the eventual cost of the console, so it’s unlikely we’ll hear any pricing information until much closer to the release.