Leaked Sony PlayStation 5 photo shows PS5 console in the real world

Mere days after a gaming industry insider helped to reassure gamers that the Sony PlayStation 5 would indeed have a huge focus on backwards compatibility, comes a leaked image of that crazy PS5 dev kit design that has been doing the rounds recently but in the real world.

The image, which emerged on ZoneOf Tech, shows what the site reports as "the PlayStation 5". The image was was sent into the site by someone it refuses to name, with the photo reportedly taken mere days ago at 3:49am in the morning. Naturally, the timing the shot was taken has led to suggestions that it was done so covertly.

The leaked PS5 image is viewable in full below:

Now, for anyone who has been following the PS5 story as of late, then they will know that the system in this photo tallies very well with the crazy-looking concept design we saw back in August, a concept design that was then reportedly confirmed as genuine and which was then shown off in full in a see-all PS5 video (viewable directly below).

Is this a real dev kit for the PlayStation 5? Well, it may well be, or it might be an elaborate fake, as as usual with leaked images it shows only part of the system and it is dark and not terribly clear. We can see some USB ports, a disc drive slot, what looks to be a camera, and a selection of LED light indicators. The only other things vieweable are the system's huge cooling vents and some "Prototype 1 Not For Sale" text.

The important thing to remember, though, is that if this is the official PS5 dev kit, then history tells us that it certainly isn't going to be how the commercial PlayStation 5 looks when it launches at the end of 2020. 

The PS4 dev kit, for example, just looked like a gigantic black box with silver panel on the front, while when it finally launched to the gaming public it was a third of the size and boasted that super slick two tier slab design that won design awards. The two systems literally looked nothing like each other. As such, while it is definitely neat if we've just got our first glimpse of the true PS5 dev kit, it doesn't actually mean much in the grand scheme of things.

After all, that system looks not just ugly, but fug-ugly, and was more than likely never intended to see the light of day. Here's hoping the final commercial PS5 console looks a hell of a lot better. 🤞

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