The coronavirus pandemic is causing a lot of speculation and worry that big device launches will be delayed this year, but AMD is adamant that Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X will come out in 2020.
In its second-quarter earnings call, the chip maker was optimistic that the next-generation consoles will come out during "Holiday 2020." Given AMD is providing the main processor for both consoles, it has a particular insight into PS5 and Xbox Series X.
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“We expect semi-custom revenue to increase in the second quarter and be heavily weighted towards the second half of the year as we ramp production to support the holiday launches of the new PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X consoles,” Dr Lisa Su, AMD’s CEO, said in an earnings call.
From this, we can speculate that AMD has got its chip production for the next-gen consoles nailed down and ready to go. That’ll be critical to getting the PS5 and Xbox Series X out of production and onto the shop shelves in time for Christmas 2020.
It’ll also be a big deal for AMD, as it’s set to make a good bit of money from supplying chips to the new games consoles; much like it did with the PS4 and Xbox One. AMD has had a resurgence over the past couple of years with its Ryzen lineup of processors, but it could potentially funnel additional console revenue into research and development for its next batch of chips.
That being said, there are tidbits of information that suggest Sony might not be making as many PS5 consoles as expected at launch, as demand for non-essential goods has dropped due to the COVID-19 crisis. But Su said AMD is ready to cope with that, which would suggest that there’ll still be plenty of next-generation consoles out in the market for fans to snap up at launch.
While AMD may be feeling confident about the PS5 and Xbox Series X, we are still waiting on more details from Sony and Microsoft. The latter has already shown off plenty about its console, from specs to design, but has yet to showcase any major exclusives for the next Xbox. However, Microsoft is holding a special May 7 event to reveal the first-ever gameplay for its new console.
Sony hasn’t even shown off the design of the PS5, giving us only a look at the DualSense controller, and no PS5 exclusives have been revealed or confirmed as coming yet. But the company is rumored to have a special June 4 launch event, where we could see the console's design and exclusive games for the first time.
