In an interview with Bloomberg, John Kodera (CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment) did not rule out that the company could once again explore the market for handheld consoles, even if there are currently no plans on this.
Will Sony announced a new portable console soon? “We want to think about many options,” says John Kodera, although “in my opinion, rather than separating portable gaming from consoles, it’s necessary to continue thinking of it (portable gaming) as one method to deliver more gaming experiences and exploring what our customers want from portable.”
Kodera then states that the next generation of PlayStation(PS5) could “be closely integrated with portable devices”, although the reference, in this case, maybe to smartphones and tablets, rather than to a new portable platform. Sony is trying to enter the mobile market with ForwardWorks, a label specializing in the production of games for iOS and Android.
The mention of the integration between home console and portable gaming does not seem to indicate in any case the desire to look towards Nintendo Switch and its hybrid nature, but at the moment it is far too early to make speculation about PS5.
Speaking of PS Vita, Kodera also mentioned that Sony will probably continue to support it until around 2020, at least for Japan and the Asian territories. According to the NPD analysts, PlayStation 5 could exit “not before 2020” with 2021 as the possible year of launch for the new Sony platform.
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