Mere days after an official PlayStation job listing was hastily altered to remove "next generation PlayStation" details, Sony has started to send out a survey to gamers so they can "plan for the future of PlayStation", causing PS5 hype to skyrocket.
The tantalising development, first reported on gaming website Twisted Voxel, saw dozens of PlayStation gamers with European accounts sent a survey with questions designed to allow them express their "opinions on console gaming". According to the email, the survey is designed so that Sony can effectively "plan for the future of PlayStation".
The message accompanying the future of PlayStation survey. Could the PS5 be released in 2019? | Image credit: Twisted Voxel
According to the initial report, the survey's questions focus on how gamers use their consoles, streaming, and whether they are interested in mobile or other gaming devices. Mobile devices, eh? Sure sounds like those reports of Sony working on a brand new 5G PlayStation Portable (PSP) could have some truth about them after all.
It's one of the gaming industry's worst kept secrets that the next PlayStation, the PS5, is already in development and, as indicated by recent comments by industry analysts, looks set to land much sooner than Sony initially hinted.
Last year Sony Interactive Entertainment's CEO John Kodera said there would be no new PlayStation until 2021, but following whispers that Sony was actually running a secret covert operation to release the PlayStation 5 much sooner to land a surprise preemptive strike on Microsoft's Xbox Two, industry analysts started predicting a system launch in late 2019 or by E3 2020.
Sony gamers seem desperate to arm up with the PS5, which looks set for a heated next-gen console clash with Microsoft's Xbox Two.
Whether or not this survey heralds a PS5 announcement in 2019 remains to be seen.
However, with Sony skipping E3 2019 completely and instead reportedly looking to hold its own big event toward the end of the year, it's obvious to see why loyal Sony gamers are getting massively excited right now for the PS5.
After all, in November this year it will have been a whole six years since the PlayStation 4 launched, and gaming technology has moved on a lot in that period. Naturally, Sony gamers want to experience the games they love in the best possible way and that entails playing great PS5 games on super-powerful hardware capable of incredible next-gen features.
