With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the world economy and stopping product releases, concerns remain that the PS5 and Xbox Series X will be delayed beyond their “holidays 2020” launch dates.
February and March brought predictions from analyst firms that the PS5 and Xbox Series X would be delayed due to the Covid-19 impact in China, where manufacturing plants were forced to close temporarily. But Microsoft boss Satya Nadella said its machine would still make its launch schedule. “On the supply side, we are getting back on rails,” claimed the CEO. Sony, meanwhile, said the outbreak hadn’t affected production of the PS5.
AMD, which provides the CPU and GPU for both consoles, has backed up the companies’ words. In its recent earnings call, CEO Dr. Lisa Su said: “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.”
With AMD increasing its chip production, it sounds as if we can definitely expect the PS5 and Xbox Series X to be here in time for Christmas, though it might be easier to grab one of Microsoft’s consoles than its rival’s. A recent report claimed that Sony would limit the PS5’s initial production run due its high price, which could reach $549, according to some developers.
Microsoft tweeted that it would reveal Xbox Series X gameplay on May 7, so we’ll find out if next-gen games really are comparable to the move from 2D to 3D, as Xbox boss Phil Spencer claims.
