PS4 Neo WILL launch this year, report claims

Well this is a surprise – one report has claimed that PS4 Neo WILL be released in 2016, despite its E3 no-show.

Eurogamer reports that several sources have indicated that Neo launches this year”, regardless of the machine’s total absence from E3. The site also questions if 4K will be as large a focus for it as it is for Scorpio.

On the face of it, the claim sounds implausible. We’re already in June. If the machine were out in the next six months, why on earth not show it at E3? Especially as Microsoft announced Scorpio, which isn’t out for a year and a half.

Look at the facts, however, and the situation becomes a little more complicated. Andrew House confirmed just before E3 that Neo was real, and wouldn’t feature in LA, but didn’t specify any sort of release date either way. He did, however, say during the show that he thought it odd that Microsoft would announce a console so far ahead of its release.

Which could suggest his announcement, albeit prior to E3, is not as chronologically removed from the machine’s arrival?

Could it be, in fact, that Sony chose not to detail Neo as it learned that Scorpio is going to be the technically superior machine? An E3 face-off, under these circumstances, could have left Neo in the lurch.

However, a surprise announcement at Gamescom or Paris Gamesweek, along with an it’s out next month, oh and here’s a 599 PS4 Neo and PS VR bundle thanks very much”, could be a big deal for the company. Releasing a year before Scorpio would certainly help offset Microsoft’s expected power advantage (and potentially allow Sony to get to work on the 7 teraflop Neo 2, right?).