PlayStation Neo: Sony announces PS4.5, confirming it won't be at E3 2016

Sony Interactive Entertainment president and global chief executive Andrew House has confirmed the existence of a more powerful PlayStation 4 console, revealing that it will not form part of Sony's E3 2016 press conference set to be held in the early hours of Tuesday, 14 June.

Speaking to the Financial Times, House said that the "high-end PS4" - codenamed Neo - will target hardcore gamers and consumers with 4K television sets who (in the FT's words) are "looking for more high-resolution content". It's not clear if this means 4K gaming.

"All games will support the standard PS4 and we anticipate all or a very large majority of games will also support the high-end PS4," said House.

In regard to the console not appearing at E3 2016 - as it had been widely expected to - he said: "We want to ensure we have a full range of the best experiences on the new system that we can showcase in their entirety."

House revealed that the console will be "standalone profitable" when it's released, meaning it won't be sold at a loss. Asked about additional work that would be required of developers to make games for both versions, House described it as a "small but manageable" amount of extra work.

PlayStation Neo has been widely reported since March, where journalists overheard developers discussing it during this year's GDC. Follow-up reports revealed 4K support, that there would be an announcement prior to PlayStation VR's October launch, the codename Neo and details regarding its upgraded specs.

The decision to not show the PlayStation Neo at E3 opens up the opportunity for Microsoft to announce news of its new, more powerful console. While the company's upgraded Xbox One - codenamed Scorpio - is not expected to release until 2017, it can be the first to declare their intentions to a large audience.

Reports regarding Scorpio and an Xbox One Slim (to launch this year) surfaced in late May.

Now excuse us while we go update all our E3 preview pieces...

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