With so much attention now on Microsoft and its upcoming Xbox One X console, what does the near future hold for Sony? There have been suggestions that the Japanese company could release its PlayStation 5 as earlier as next year as a response to Microsoft's 4K machine, but president Shawn Layden says the PS5 won't arrive for "some time."

During an interview with German site Golem.de, Layden was asked if we can ever expect to see games released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 Pro, to which he replied, "That will never happen."

"The Pro is really only to offer advantages such as 4K resolutions and HMD for players who can and want to use that. Add to this a more stable image rate and larger hard disk space. But [PS4 owners have] no real disadvantages. Each of our games will continue to run on the classic PS4 and possibly slightly better on the Pro."

When the interviewer then asked about the PlayStation 5, Layden said it would "probably be some time" before the next generation console arrives.

Back in May, Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Damian Thong predicted that the PS5 would arrive sometime during the second half of 2018. While this sounds unlikely, it's worth remembering that Thong is the same person who correctly predicted both the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.

But with the PlayStation 4 Pro having only just released in November last year, many are skeptical about the chances of a PS5 arriving within the next 18 months. There's also the fact that the Xbox One X's launch could help boost PS4 Pro sales through developers working on more multi-platform 4K/HDR-enabled games.

In reality, it would be a massive surprise to see the PlayStation 5 released before 2019 or even 2020, by which time new technologies should result in a big generational leap forward between the PS4 and PS5.

Image credit: David Hansson