After initial leaks saw Sony filing a patent with the FCC for a 1TB PS4 earlier this month, the company has made it official alongside an announcement that a new version of the PS4 will be coming to Japan that is lighter and draws less power. The console with the 1TB HDD will be heading to Europe on July 15 and will make it to the US sometime after that, with an official release date in North America unknown.
There are a couple of interesting notes about the surprise announcement this morning, the first of which being the timing seems a little odd. Microsoft announced its own version of a 1TB Xbox One right before E3 and Sony appeared to have been surprised by the announcement. With E3 ending just days ago, it seems odd the upgraded console wasn’t included in its official press conference. It also seems odd that Sony acted as surprised as they did that their rival had its own 1TB console coming to the market. Perhaps the company was more surprised with the timing.
Eurogamer points out that Sony doesn’t appear to have any plans at the moment to bring the lighter PS4 to either Europe or North America. It’s possible that’s simply because the company doesn’t want three separate versions on the market. On the other hand, considering the lighter version is carrying a price tag of $400 it seems as if this version could eventually outright replace the original launch PS4. The 1TB PS4 hits Japan at the end of June, Europe in the middle of July and if the pattern holds will likely be in the US this fall.