Sony confirms existence of the PlayStation Neo, but says it won’t be at E3

By Rob Thubron | Techspot

It may not come as huge shock to learn that Sony has finally confirmed its high-end version of the PlayStation 4, codenamed Neo, is real. But what is quite surprising is that the machine won’t be on show at next week’s E3 event.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said the updated PS4 is coming, but we’ll have to wait a while before it’s officially unveiled.

As predicted, the new console is designed to support 4K content, both in videos and games, though precise details have yet to be revealed.

House said that there will be no Neo exclusive titles, and that “all or a very large majority of games will also support the high-end PS4,” which presumably means not every game will take advantage of its advanced hardware. Adding full support for the console will require some “small but manageable” extra work from developers.

“It is intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4,” he said, “we will be selling both [versions] through the life cycle.”

Another piece of unsurprising information is that the Neo will cost more than the current PlayStation 4, though House didn’t say by how much. Moreover, it will be compatible with the upcoming PlayStation virtual reality headset, but it’s unclear if VR games could be designed to utilize the Neo’s powerful components.

The supported software is set to arrive this fall, suggesting that the new console will be released around the same time.

Microsoft is still expected to show off its updated version of the Xbox One, codenamed Scorpio, at E3. In all likelihood, both consoles will be competing to become the number one Christmas seller this year.