UPDATE ONE: New predictions have been made in connection with how Sony are planning for the PS5 release date.

Lewis Ward, the IDC research director for gaming and VR/AR, has estimated that the next gen won’t launch for quite some time.

In fact, fans could be stuck with the PS4 Pro, Xbox One X and Nintendo Switch for longer than so far predicted by other analysts.

Ward has made a tentative prediction that the PS5 release date won’t arrive until 2021, making for another long console generation.

“Right now I think PS5 and the next-gen Xbox will arrive in 2021, but that’s really just a tentative placeholder in my forecast,” he told Gamingbolt.

Ward also believes that the PS4 will be the first console of this run to hit the 100 million mark, something that could happen as early 2019.

Which means plenty of time for the PlayStation 4 to go for the all-time sales crown, if it does stick around until 2021.

As mentioned above, Ward also believes that the Xbox One X will also be replaced in 2021. Microsoft remain tight-lipped on their future console plans, while Sony have only gone so far as to confirm that a new PlayStation machine is coming.

ORIGINAL: This year has seen new details emerge about Sony's next big console, albeit, without some of the key juicy details.

If fans were hoping for a few bigger clues from the Tech giant, it looks like they might have to wait at least another year, if not longer.

2017 has seen the first solid price predictions and launch ideas shared by leading analysts for the PS5 release date, who all seem to agree that fans will have to stay patient a little longer.

While there’s no current consensus on when the new PS4 and PS4 Pro successor will arrive, there’s plenty of ideas floating around.

Sony themselves have not revealed when they will launch their next big console, which is likely to rival both Microsoft's Xbox One X and the Nintendo Switch.

They have, however, confirmed that a new gaming machine is in the works.

PlayStation’s Shawn Layden only went as far as to say that there will “probably be some time” before it’s released.

Some analysts believe that this could mean late in 2018, while other industry leaders have provided a later date.

Industry analyst Michael Pachter has spoken about the PS5 release date on a number of occasions.

His most recent prediction on the subject puts the PS5 release in 2019 or 2020 - with a 2020 launch date more likely.

Pachter said: "I think that's exactly when you'll see one (PS5) 2019 or 2020, and if I had to bet, it's 2020. 

“Sony's making so much money with the PS4 that I think they'll continue to milk it as long as they can milk it. 

“And I think the natural extension of that is the PS4 Pro becomes the default PS4, and they just knock that price down to $250 when they can and they keep selling it -- a tonne of those.

“The PS5 is probably going to be their real 4K device, and so it just feels to me that they're not going to launch the PS5 until sales momentum for the PS4 slows, and it just hasn't. 

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, meanwhile, has also said that they believe the PS5 release date is a “minimum of two years away”.

This would mean the PlayStation 5 could come out in 2019 at the earliest, giving the PS4 a lifespan of six years.

Guillemot also said he believes the next Xbox will also come out at the same time as the PS5.

"As Sony launched PlayStation 4 Pro last year and Microsoft Xbox One X this year, we think we still have a minimum of two years in front of us before something new is coming,” he said during an earnings report.

"But that's our perception, we don't have any confidential information on that front."

And when it comes to price, Pachter believes that unless the Xbox One X smashes it out the park, the PS5 will likely retail for less than $500.

“If Xbox One X is a phenomenal success, if it sells out, if overall Xbox sales rise to above the current level of 10 million a year, because everyone wants that power, then sure, the next gen can be more expensive,” the analyst explained on the Pachter Factor.

“But if the Xbox One X sells 1-2 million a year, out of the 10 million Xbox sold every year, and after a couple of years, they satisfy demand and no one wants it at $500, then no.

“Look, I don’t have a lot of experience with $500 consoles, but what I have is bad. The PS3 launched at $600 and it flopped.

"The Xbox One launched at $500, and it didn’t work, they had to drop the Kinect and bring it to under $400 before it sold. 

“There’s just some consumer obstinacy about spending more than $300-400 on a console.

"I can’t explain why, I spend that much on Halloween candy, I don’t know. Some people, they just say ‘I can buy an HDTV for $500,’ and you can, and in a couple of years, you’ll be able to get 4KTVs at that price. 

“So a console sounds very expensive compared to that- a TV will last you 10 years, and you can use it all the time, and a console lasts you 5 years, and won’t be used that much. So my bias is no, $500 consoles won’t happen.”