Rumors of an updated PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have gathered pace this week, with the CEO of GameStop stating that he expects new hardware to roll out in the next few years.
Speaking to website alistdaily, Paul Raines revealed that he couldn’t elaborate on the identity of the new platforms, as doing so would upset the retailer’s partners.
The executive said that GameStop expects to be "pretty dominant on new consoles, and the reason we’re dominant is because we have the PowerUp Rewards program with 46 million members around the world. We have those people on file, and we know how much trade credit they have at home that they bought from us. So it’s easy to market to them and say, ‘Hey Mr. Gaudiosi, you’ve got $48. Why don’t you bring that in and trade it against the new Xbox or PlayStation?‘
"So we anticipate that we’ll see some new consoles in the next few years. We don’t like to talk about that because our partners get upset if we jump ahead, so we’ll let them disclose that. Consoles are good for us any way you slice it."
Raines’ comments come in light of rumors that Sony will be releasing an updated PS4 console, dubbed the PS4, or ‘Neo.’ Initial reports suggested that the device will be unveiled before the release of PlayStation VR this October, and will carry a $400 price tag and launch in holiday 2016.
Giant Bomb later got hold of a bunch of details on the console, including the presence of an improved CPU, GPU and RAM. A new report also suggested that a March 2017 launch is more likely at this point.
Nothing official has been confirmed at this point, although it’s looking increasingly likely we’ll hear something from Sony soon enough. Stay tuned.