A new patent filed by Sony outlines what the PlayStation 5 might look like. The patent, published by Dutch site LetsGoDigital, shows a device that looks like a game console.
Sony submitted the patent at the Brazilian INPI patent authority. The same patent was also registered with the World Intellectual Property Office (WPTO) in May. However, the WIPO approved the patent on August 13. The filing gives details on the design of the console, rather than technical specifications.
As seen in the images, the console has a unique V-shape design. It could indicate that Sony might call its next game console PSV (V is actually the roman numeral), instead of the PS5. Sketches of the device also reveal multiple USB ports for controllers, a button for turning/off power and another for ejecting disks.
The latest patent design doesn’t mean that the PS5 will look like this. The filing is just an application, and doesn’t necessarily mean that Sony will launch the PS5 with the V-shaped design. Tech firms often patent futuristic designs that never see the light of the day.
There’s a chance that this could be the design used for the PS5 DevKit. Within a few hours of the leak, game developer Matthew Scott reposted a weblink of Metro UK on Twitter, saying that this was a DevKit and they have a few in the office. Scott is a senior artist at Codemaster, a popular game studio. If Codemasters are working on PS5 games, then naturally the studio will have access to the PS5 DevKits.
It’s likely to be a DevKit and not a real console. If you recall, the PS4’s DevKit had a weird design and had multiple vents and fins. But the final console was ghastly different. If this is the PS5 DevKit, expect the final retail version to look a lot different.
Sony had shared the first details of its next-generation game console in April this year. The company is yet to name the console and has not confirmed when it will launch the PS5 next year. But it did reveal that the console will feature an eight-core CPU based on the third-generation AMD’s Ryzen processors, and a custom graphics processor based on the AMD Navi family. The next PlayStation will also include a solid-state drive, instead of the standard hard drive used in the PS4. It will also have a custom AMD chipset for 3D audio. The PS5 game lineup has been confirmed yet.
The Japanese company will likely hold an event in early next year to unveil the PS5. The game console will succeed the PS4, the world’s most popular game console with over 100 million units sold. Sony’s upcoming console will compete against Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox console (code-named “Project Scarlett”), which will hit retail shelves towards the end of 2020.
