A PS5 reveal event is imminent, new patent filing suggests
Sony is gearing up for its next big moment in the spotlight.
The unveiling of PlayStation 5 could be right around the corner. Rumors that Sony is planning a February reveal event to make up for skipping on E3 2020 have been circulating online for months. Now, the company has made a move suggesting that it’s gearing up for a blowout presentation very soon.
Sony filed a trademark application for the PS5 through the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE IPI) on Monday. This came weeks after PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan revealed the PS5 logo at CES 2020 (to no big surprise). Sony’s trademark filing, however, suggests that the company has finalized the next-gen console’s branding and is ready to bring it into the spotlight.
The trademark was filed under three production sections that cover “interactive computer software, game discs, game consoles, and interactive entertainment.” In 2019, Sony filed the trademarks for 10 generations of PlayStations in Japan, but this European filing could be the sign that an international reveal is imminent.
While nothing has been confirmed yet, there’s strong evidence suggesting Sony is preparing to surprise fans relatively soon. Certain rumors indicate the company is targeting early February as a date for the reveal, but that seems increasingly less likely considering invitations have yet to be sent out.
February does still seem like the most likely month for a PS5 reveal, however.
Video games journalist Mike Futter learned that Sony delegated planning for its annual Destination PlayStation event to an unnamed retailer. This annual meeting happens behind closed doors and is typically attended by Sony’s business partners, publishers, and distributors with the intention of offering an insider rundown of the company’s plans for the upcoming year.
Sony usually hosts this event internally, and Futter speculates that the company isn’t doing so this year because it’s planning something even bigger around the same time. A consumer-facing blowout for the new PlayStation would fit the bill nicely.
“The [Destination PlayStation] event is usually in February, which could mean that Sony wants the spotlight (and doesn’t want to do a second event in the same window) when it does its full reveal for PS5,” Futter tweeted earlier in January. “Makes sense. PS4 event was in Feb 2013 in NYC for reference.”
So there are signs that suggest Sony is using the PS4 playbook in its approach to the PS5 reveal.
The current-gen console was announced at a showcase hosted in New York City on February 20, 2013. The PS4 was then released in the United States on November 15 that year. Because the PS5 is slated for a winter 2020 release ahead of the holiday season, that means we're due for some kind of major reveal by the end of February.
It’s unclear if Sony will only showcase the hardware or if the company might also showcase some teasers for launch titles. Microsoft revealed the Xbox Series X in December and teased a handful of launch titles that were in the works, so Sony will have to show off some of the PS5's firepower if it wants to compete in this next generation of the console wars.
