With the highly anticipated release of the PlayStation 5 mere months away, it appears that North America may receive the console slightly sooner than the rest of the world. Although there is no way to discern how far apart these releases will be, a brief look at Sony’s history of console launches provides some insight into what gamers can expect. Regardless of the time difference, however, it seems highly likely that most of the world can expect to have access to the PS5 by the end of this year.
Sony has historically staggered the releases of its consoles between the North American, Japanese, and PAL regions - PAL in this case referring to most of Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia. Put simply, this is partially because countries in PAL regions require unique work due to the multiple languages spoken in those regions. Historically, PAL and other regions' televisions ran at different frame rates, requiring different frame rates for video games as well. Though current-gen console frame rates are standardized worldwide, PlayStation 4 was released in North America in November 2013, PAL regions one week later, and Japan in February 2014. Interestingly, the PlayStation 3 released first in Japan, one week later in North America, and four months later in PAL regions.
According to Games Radar, the UK version of the official PlayStation 5 product page recently changed the console's release date from “holiday 2020” to “late 2020,” seeming to indicate that the release may once again be staggered. This was compounded by a trailer for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which initially said that the game would release in the US and Canada during the holidays, but in “late 2020” for the rest of the world.The trailer has since been replaced with one that no longer displays this message, but gamers know more than most that the internet never forgets. Although it is entirely possible that these changes on both the PS5 website and Call of Duty trailer are a coincidence, it seems more likely that developer Treyarch may have let slip some information it shouldn’t have yet.
It doesn't help that Sony has been particularly tight-lipped about the PS5’s release when compared to previous consoles. Although the spread of COVID-19 has undoubtedly played a role in the number of promotional events Sony could have possibly held, this does not take away from the fact that still hasn't released a price for its upcoming console, and seems to have waited as long as possible before unveiling what the next-gen console and its controller will look like. Luckily, Sony has been fairly informative in recent months, sharing which titles gamers can expect to come to PS5 at launch, the details about its backwards compatibility, and the technical specifications of the console.
Realistically, the public can - and probably should - expect the PS5 to have a staggered release, just as every PlayStation has before it. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any precedent to indicate in which order that release will happen. This latest information certainly seems to imply that North America will be first to get the PlayStation 5, but what remains to be seen is which regions will follow and whether Sony will be able to break the trend of a several month gap between them.
Source: Games Radar
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