Update: It turns out the much awaited PS5 news is false. Not long after the job listing showing an October release date began circulating, Famitsu reached out to Sony and asked if it was genuine. Sony, in turn, said the person who posted it, got a bit overzealous.
It appears we might just have our first confirmed launch date for either the PS5 or the Xbox Series X. At the very least, we have a launch month.
Assuming a recent job listing at Sony didn’t include an overzealous human resources employee, we now know the PlayStation 5 is due to hit store shelves this October. The news isn’t completely unexpected as we’ve known both next-generation consoles are due to launch this “holiday season.”
The job listing still shows the PS5 launching a bit earlier than expected. It’s also the first time the company has made any mention of its launch plans.
Interestingly enough, this leak doesn’t come from the gaming side of Sony. On the Japanese language site Rikunavi Next, Sony is advertising for a materials purchasing agent. Industry insider Nibel was among the first to see the listing and translate it to English, verifying a portion of the PS5 listing:
If the posting is correct, it means gamers are going to be able to get their hands on the PS5 a month earlier than most expected. Holiday season usually means early November in the U.S.
Companies tend to launch a few weeks ahead of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. If the listing can be believed, this will give retailers a little boost to the bottom line. That’s good news for an industry attempting to dig itself out from the economic hit of the coronavirus pandemic.
The timing also works with recent rumors of Sony planning a big PS5 reveal for mid-June. Four months isn’t a massive amount of lead time, but it’s possible pre-orders for the PS5 could open at that event.
