Despite the PS5 family only being launched in 2020, that hasn’t stopped impatient gamers from asking the question: will there be a new PlayStation in 2023? It’s understandable. Console release cycles aren’t as hard and fast as they used to be. Rather than one-and-done launches, as was traditionally the case, now we have multiple SKUs being launched throughout each generation to keep platforms refreshed.
There’s a PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition, for a start, and rumors have already started around the possibility of Sony launching a PS5 Pro and PS5 Slim, despite no firm evidence or confirmation from the gaming giant.
So, as we approach what is (again, traditionally) the halfway point of the ninth console generation, it’s only natural that people start asking if a new PlayStation 5 is on the way. On top of that, Sony has added a layer of complexity to the question with two simple words (well, a word and a letter): Project Q.
What does all this mean for the PlayStation brand, and the possibility of a new best gaming console, in the year ahead?
PlayStation 5 Pro and Slim
By now we’re all familiar with the tack taken by manufacturers, at the halfway stage of a console’s lifespan, to release upgraded and/or downsized versions of the base version. In PlayStation terms, this has taken the shape of the Pro and Slim.
Looking back at the PlayStation 4 (check our PS5 vs PS4 guide for a refresh) we know that the original console was launched in 2013 with the PS4 Pro and PS4 Slim following in 2016. So it stands to reason that a PlayStation 5 Pro and Slim could also follow suit in that same three-year frame following the original release.
Well, it might, were it not for the ongoing component crisis. The chip shortages, which have plagued PS5 supplies (and that of most recent electronics) since the pandemic first broke out, will likely have scuppered any best-laid plans along those lines.
In short, while it’s entirely plausible that we could see PlayStation 5 Pro and Slim consoles launched this year, it feels far less than probable. We may perhaps see them announced, but as far as them actually being available… we doubt it.
Qing it up
Where things start to get interesting is with Project Q, Sony’s recently announced new handheld console that is confirmed to launch in 2023.
“Later this year we will launch a dedicated device that enables you to stream any game from your PS5 console using Remote Play over WiFi,” came the announcement. “It has an eight-inch HD screen, and all of the buttons and features of the DualSense wireless controller.”
While it looks like a mashup of a DualSense with a Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck, Project Q won’t feature a separate software library. Instead, it is designed for streaming existing PS5 titles from your machine (and not from the cloud).
This makes it distinctly different from the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita handhelds that Sony has launched in the past – but you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think it will possess the PS branding, just like its predecessors. Which will make it, on paper at least, a new PlayStation.
So… will there be a new PlayStation in 2023?
Technically, yes there will – though it will take the form, literally and figuratively, of whatever Project Q ultimately ends up being called. The handheld will be a PlayStation-branded console, and it will play PlayStation 5 games.
We could also, conceivably, get the announcement (if not the launch) of a PlayStation 5 Pro and Slim. Though this seems far more likely to come next year when supply chains are stable enough to support the extra demand for twice as many chipsets. What we won’t see in 2023, though, is a PlayStation 6, just in case you were feeling hopeful. We’re probably looking to 2026, at the earliest, for that.
- While you wait for another gaming console, why not check out the best PS5 games and best free PS5 games.