Sony commemorates 25 years of PlayStation platform with no PS5 announcement in sight

Earlier this month, there was speculation that Sony might reveal new information regarding the PS5 this week. For those who are not aware, today is the 25th anniversary of the original PlayStation console. On December 3, 1994, the Japanese consumer electronics firm officially joined the video game industry with its first game system. Originally, intended to be an add-on accessory for the Super Nintendo, the gaming industry never expected the system claw its way up the sales charts. Instead of a big announcement related to its next-generation machine, the company released a statement.

The message was delivered by none other than Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan. He pointed out the console's humble beginnings and explosive growth helmed by Ken Kutaragi – recognized as the father of the PlayStation – and his team. Furthermore, he was evidently responsible for pushing ground-breaking ideas that would turn the industry upstart into a household name akin to Nintendo.

"The Original PlayStation sold 100,000 units in Japan on its first day and went on to become the first-ever home console to surpass 100 million units sold globally," said Ryan. From the very start, we opened our arms to developers providing them with tools and technology to create beautiful, expansive worlds, and to experiment with new ideas," he added, as reported by Comic Book.

Despite almost losing out to the Xbox 360 due to the complicated programming requirements with the PS3, Sony bounced back with the PS4. Its latest hardware, the PlayStation 5 is slated to launch in 2020 around the holiday season.

Thus, gamers have been supplied with a steady trickle of information regarding the new system. So far, the gaming industry knows about its new SSD, graphical capabilities, dynamic interface, new controller, and the possibility of backward compatibility with the entire library of games form older consoles.

On the other hand, consumer and industry analysts are growing concerned about Microsoft's next-generation endeavour. Unlike Sony, which has already shipped PS5 dev kits to developers, it has been relatively quiet on the Xbox Scarlett's end.

So far, the only details the system engineers have shared about it are related to backward compatibility, Project xCloud, and the Xbox Play Anywhere program. If this keeps up, there is a likelihood that the PlayStation 5 will have an advantage when it launches ahead of the new Xbox next year.