Studios will reportedly get access to devkits for mid-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X updates by the end of the year

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Sony and Microsoft are apparently already thinking about the next console iteration

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(Image credit: Sony / Microsoft)

Sony and Microsoft are reportedly sending out dev kits for a new PS5 and Xbox Series X mid-gen upgrade to a number of AAA studios. 

As revealed by Rockstar insider Tez2 on the GTA Forums, "most AAA studios should have received the dev kits of mid-life upgrades or should receive them by the start of the new year." This comment was said in response to another user who theorized that a new "slim version" of the PS5 could release alongside GTA 6. When asked if news of the dev kits was more of a prediction or known for sure, Tez2 replied: "For sure."

Don't get too excited about a new PS5 or Xbox Series X console just yet though. As pointed out in the comments of this Reddit post, dev kits for a new console generation - or mid-gen upgrade - are usually done a year or two in advance, so there's probably still a little while before it's time to upgrade. Looking at past generations, the PS3 launched in 2006 and the PS3 Slim followed in 2009; after that, the PS4 launched in 2014, and the Slim model in 2016. 

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As for Xbox, the Xbox 360 launched in 2005 before Microsoft went on to release the Xbox 360 S - which was thought of as the slim model - in 2010, and then the Xbox One in 2013, shortly followed by the Xbox One X in 2017. What this all means is that just because studios may be getting dev kits for these mysterious new consoles, doesn't mean we'll be getting a new console right away. Considering that both the PS5 and Xbox Series X were released in November 2020, we've still got some time before a new edition is due to be unveiled. 

Speaking of Xbox, fans recently got suspicious after Xbox boss Phil Spencer shared a photo of his shelves and fans thought that they contained a piece of yet-to-be-announced Xbox hardware. Sadly, a few hours after speculation began, it was shut down by the official Xbox Twitter account which cleared up that instead, it was just an old console prototype. 

If you're still enjoying playing your current-gen consoles, find out what you should be playing on them with our best PS5 games and best Xbox Series X games lists. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.