In a recent article for The Wall Street Journal, Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Damian Thong has made some surprising claims about the potential release date for Sony’s next-generation console – or simply put, when he thinks the PlayStation 5 will be available.
Speaking about Sony’s successful year after they “struggled for years to pare back unprofitable businesses,” Thong states that he expects Sony to release its next-generation PlayStation by the second half of 2018. This would mean that the PlayStation 5 would be hitting stores and our homes in the latter half of next year.
While it can be natural to wave aside these claims as baseless, Damian Thong is a seasoned analyst who has actually been correct about his predictions in the past. He accurately predicted the release of the PS4 Pro and the PS4 Slim, so there is plenty of weight to his opinion.
What’s interesting is that it makes sense for Sony to release the PlayStation 5 in 2018, especially given Nintendo’s success with the Switch and Microsoft unveiling their Project Scorpio at this year’s E3. Despite the fact that Sony is winning the console war, if Microsoft and Nintendo continue to build traction, they could catch up and overtake Sony’s lead.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be a gamer, with Sony continuing to push the limits of what’s possible. With how beautiful Horizon Zero Dawn was on the PS4 Pro, we can’t even imagine how something like that would look on a PlayStation 5. What do you think though – do you agree with Damian Thong’s prediction that the PlayStation 5 will be released in 2018?