As the 8th console generation winds to an inevitable close, console makers start teasing their upcoming machines-- and Sony gets the ball rolling as PlayStation architect Mark Cerny spills at least some details to Wired.

Reportedly 4 years in the making, the fifth PlayStation promises to be "no mere upgrade." Cerny refers to the machine as the "next-gen console," and admits it won't hit the market any time before 2020. AMD is taking care of hardware duties, offering a 3rd gen Ryzen processor based on 7nm Zen 2 architecture and a custom Navi-based GPU Cerny claims is capable of ray tracing. A sophisticated light simulation technology, ray tracing is currently supported by high-end processors and the Nvidia RTX GPU line.

Speaking of next-gen PlayStation hardware, a relevant tidbit comes from DigiTimes-- the 7nm CPU and GPU will reportedly be ready by Q3 2020, before the console launches on H2 2020. TSMC is taking care of chip production. Handling processor packaging and testing are Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL).

Also included in the next-gen PlayStation are a custom 3D audio chip Cerny says will provide a sense of "presence" in virtual worlds, as well as a "true game changer" in the shape of SSD-based storage offering the highest raw bandwidth yet. A final reveal should allay the concerns of at least some customers, as the machine will be backwards-compatible with the PS4.

We will learn more about the next-gen console sometime in the near future-- but not at E3 2019, since Sony will not have a presence at the show, a first since the company revealed the very first PlayStation. As such, it will leave the stage wide open for Microsoft, who rumours suggest will reveal the next-gen Xbox at its 9 June briefing.

Go What to Expect From Sony's Next-Gen PlayStation (Wired)

Go AMD 7nm Chips for Next-Generation PlayStation to be Ready in Q3 2020