Will We Hear About New Game Consoles in 2019?

By: Max Cannon

Though it may feel like the both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are still performing perfectly well to most people, they've been around for over 5 years which makes them middle-aged in "console years." The console generation got a quick little shot in the arm with 4K capable versions of these machines but a full upgrade is inevitable. So, is 2019 the year we hear about new consoles or potentially even see them hitting store shelves?

The Xbox Two and a New Xbox One

Microsoft teased their more powerful Xbox One, the Xbox One X, for quite some time before actually releasing the thing. They ended their E3 2016 show with a quick tease of the console while it was codenamed Project Scorpio before actually releasing it at the end of E3 2017. So the true follow-up to the Xbox One, which we'll jokingly call the Xbox Two, felt like a real possibility at the end of last year's E3 press conference when the Head of Xbox Phil Spencer referenced development on the rumored Scarlet game console. And things became even more interesting when 2018 news centered around Xbox making a console capable of streaming games with unnoticeable amounts of lag.

Project xCloud: Gaming with you at the center

So what could we see in 2019? Well, there are current rumors about another Xbox One model coming in 2019 that will be a "digital only" machine. That digital-only system seems like it could take advantage of Microsoft's Project xCloud which will let you stream games. The source reporting on that 2019 consoles claims that the Xbox Two is set for a 2020 release, but even more interestingly, that possible system in 2019 could be incredibly cheap even possibly around $100. That's absurdly cheap for a current console and very competitive against anything PlayStation is cooking up.

The Mysterious PlayStation 5

While we have much more information about what Xbox is working on, we have a lot less to work with concerning PlayStation. The successor to the PlayStation 4 was confirmed by a higher up at Sony toward the end of 2018 but that's really all of the news we have about the machine. While Xbox stepped up and confirmed the rumors of Scarlet, PlayStation seems to be stepping out of the stoplight. And though Microsoft is poised to make some big announcements at this year's E3, PlayStation isn't even showing up to the biggest show in video games. So while we don't know anything about a PS5, here's what we can theorize. 

With Xbox working on streaming games, it would make sense that Sony would be planning to do the same, especially considering their use of the PlayStation Now streaming service. It'd also be a mighty dangerous move to the brand to keep out backwards compatibility, so I think it's reasonable to assume that the PS5 will play PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4 games... hopefully. When can we hear about this upcoming machine? My guess is that the earliest we'll hear about a PS5 is during Sony's annual conference called the PlayStation Experience, which they'd also skipped in 2018. Maybe a 2019 return will bring that announcement along with it, but for time being, we don't really know anything at all about the next PlayStation.

Share Your Thoughts!

What would you want to see from next-generation consoles? Are you happy with your PlayStation 4 and Xbox One or do you want to upgrade? Share your thoughts below!