Don t expect an official announcement or unveiling anytime soon, but Sony has admitted that they are working on the PlayStation 4 (or whatever they’ll be calling the PS3‘s follow-up). The news came during a fiscal call yesterday from Sony‘s Executive Vice President and Chief financial Officer Masaru Kato. Kato owned up to the fact that work on the next home console from Sony is already underway.
Of course, most would assume that Sony’s been at least considering their next step in the console competition for the last few years. It’s only natural for a company amidst an industry of constant rivals to be considering their next move while their current move is still playing out. Kato speaks about that, too. Here’s what he said, from Eurogamer:
“For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life … but this is a platform business, so for the future platform – when we’ll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that – but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there.”
The PlayStation 3 “still has product life.” Understand that the company is not ready to push away from their still well-stacked console. The PS3 was built with a longer life-cycle in mind, and that fact definitely contributed to its initially large price point. News that Sony is working on the PlayStation 4 and committing a budget line to it does not take life away from the PS3. Perhaps it was Kato’s way of placating investors during a financial call concerning the recent problems Sony and the PlayStation brand have had.
I don’t expect the PlayStation 3 or even the Xbox 360 to go anywhere within the next two or three years. That said, it’s interesting that companies are already talking about the work being done. We all know that console manufacturers are always working on the next big thing, it’s just strange to hear their employees and representatives talking about it before official announcements.
What would you like to see from the PlayStation 4?
