Sony and PlayStation may not be attending E3 2019 but they’re still dropping some major information. In an exclusive story with Wired, Sony has revealed some of the first details of the next-generation PlayStation.
In this story, Mark Cerny, lead architect on the PlayStation and it’s unnammed-as-yet successor, talks about some of the hardware specifications and features that we can expect.
The GPU and CPU technology will be based on an AMD chip. Regarding these improvements, Wired confirms the following:
The CPU is based on the third generation of AMD’s Ryzen line and contains eight cores of the company’s new 7nm Zen 2 microarchitecture. The GPU, a custom variant of Radeon’s Navi family, will support ray tracing, a technique that models the travel of light to simulate complex interactions in 3D environments.
There will also be a dedicated 3D audio chip to improve sound quality and will also support 8K TVs. While not many details were given on their next-generation VR plans, Mark Cerny did note that the current PSVR headset will be compatible with the new hardware. In addition, since the new hardware is based on PlayStation 4 technology, it will be backward compatible with PS4 games.
The biggest upgrade however, comes in a massive leap that leaves traditional HDD hard drives behind. Sony plans to include an SSD in the next-generation PlayStation. To demonstrate the improvements this will bring, Mark Cerny demoed Marvel’s Spider-Man running on a developer kit for the new hardware. On the PlayStation 4, fast-traveling to a new location can take around 15 seconds. On the new hardware? Exactly 0.8 seconds.
Wired says that this will be a “gentle” transition, with games released on both the PlayStation 4 and it’s unnamed successor for a time. Don’t expect it to release this year however, as it’s definitely not coming in 2019.
Here’s a summary of everything we now know about the next-generation PlayStation:
- CPU: 3rd generation AMD Ryzen CPU, 7nm Zen 2 architecture
- GPU: Custom Radeon Navi, will support ray tracing
- Dedicated 3D audio chip
- SSD will be included
- Backward compatible with PS4 games
- Current PSVR headset will work
- Will “support” 8K TVs
There’s a lot to process here and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on any further announcements.
