The PS5 release date will be major news for all the game heavyweights, although it's still unclear when it might be announced by Sony.

The tech giant certainly doesn't seem in any hurry to broach the subject, only going as far as to say that there will be a successor console to the PS4 Pro.

And the latest PS4 news suggests that 2018 could be another great year for the gaming machine, which continues to face an ever more crowded market.

But while the PS4 and PS4 Pro push forward with a dominant market share and armed with new 2018 games exclusives, fans are still very interested in finding out what comes next.

And there’s a growing consensus that fans may be waiting longer than first expected for their next big console purchase.

It was recently revealed by Sony PlayStation that their PS4 console sold very well during the festive period, having already sold over 70 million by early December.

5.9m PS4 consoles worldwide were sold between the end of November and December 31st 2017.

That includes both the base PS4 and the more powerful PS4 Pro model, which is the current rival to Microsoft’s Xbox One X.

That’s down from last year’s 6.2m console, but not by much.

And while Microsoft saw a resurgence in November and December, and the Nintendo Switch continues to smash expectations, the PS4 is still king.

"We are delighted that so many people are enjoying the unique entertainment proposition of PlayStation 4 and that an emerging technology like PlayStation VR continues to gain traction," said Andrew House, Chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment. 

"I cannot thank our fans and partners enough. Their support, since the launch of very first PlayStation in 1994, has helped to make PlayStation one of the biggest console gaming networks in the world. 

“We will continue to work closely with partners to maintain this momentum and remain steadfast in making PS4 the best place to play."

And that leaves a large question mark over when Sony will announce the PS5 release date.

Several analysts and gaming industry experts have raised the question over when we might realistically see something revealed.

There have been reports that Sony may hold back on launching their new console until around 2020, or perhaps even 2021.

But as industry expert and publisher for Gameindustry.biz, Christopher Dring recently pointed out, there’s always a lot of rumours flying about

“Rumours of Fable 4 being made by a London studio, of a new Perfect Dark and Sony slowing up progress on PS5 have been rattling around for a few months,” he tweeted. 

“Most folk are trying to work out if we’re all just hearing the same rumour from the same source. Or not…”

It highlights the fact that no one seems to know for certain what Sony have planned for the future, although there’s plenty of analysis being done.

Industry analyst Michael Pachter has said in the past that he believes that Sony is making too much money with the PS4 to consider releasing a new console just yet.

Pachter commented in the 1099 Podcast: "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 ton 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. 

“So you certainly get through 2017, 2018, and I just don't see it slowing in 2018 which should prop them to launch something in 2019. 

“If it slows in 2019, they're probably launching in 2020."

And IDC research analyst Lewis Ward recently told GamingBolt something a little different, more that the PS4 Pro is a "marketing gimmick" while the Xbox One X feels like a much bigger refresh.

It's because of this that Ward believes Microsoft will focus on the Xbox One X for longer. 

"Pro is mostly a marketing gimmick," he said. "It’s nothing like Xbox One X in terms of the performance lift.

"It’s basically a standard console refresh, but Sony tweaked a few internals and got a 10% performance boost for the Pro. Big whoop.

"Xbox One X is a much more fundamental redesign and it’s at least 40% more potent than the PS4 or the initial Xbox One SKUs."