Japanese based hardware firm, Sony, has announced that it will reveal the release date of it's next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 4, on Tuesday August 20 at its pre-Gamescom 2013 press conference.
Since it debuted officially at the E3 2013 gaming conference, the only thing known about the PlayStation 4's release was that it would be sometime before the holiday season in December. Now given the timing of the release date and Sony's recent track record of outplaying its rival Microsoft's competitor the Xbox One, many are speculating the PS4 will start shipping to preorder customers in October, a month ahead of the Xbox One's release date of November.
"For one week in August 2013, the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany becomes the centre of the gaming universe as the world's biggest publishers and developers invite you to check out the games that will light up the rest of the year and beyond," a spokesperson for Sony said on the Gamescom webpage. "We'll kick off the show at 18:00 BST on 20 August 2013 with a briefing to media on our release plans for Playstation 4, as well as updates on Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita."
The Inquirer points out that customers in the U.K. who have waited to place preorders on the PS4 console might have a long time to wait as it was revealed earlier this month that preorders have already sold out. Sony confirmed the news with its own preorder webpage showing the console as out of stock, which means those who ordered the PS4 now won't receive it until after the launch day. However, it is still available at a few other retailers for those willing to look hard enough. The PS4 will undercut the Xbox One by $100 upon release. No one will know until Tuesday if the console will undercut Microsoft's plans by a month or not.
