It may be hard to believe it, but the next generation of console gaming is just under a year away at this point. Sony and Microsoft will have new machines out by holiday 2020 and gamers are looking forward to finding out how much of a leap forward the technology will bring. Although a lot of the focus is being put on removal of load times, there are some other features that the developers of the PS5 feel are going to be major game changers.

Graphics and load times will likely be the focus of most marketing when the PS5 eventually is revealed, but the machine's team is particularly excited about when the next-gen console will bring in terms of audio. The addition of 3D Audio is apparently going to be a massive jump forward that will vastly improve the sound experience for gamers on the upcoming Sony machines.

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PS5 Lead System Architect Mark Cerny discussed the machine's audio features during the first spec reveal interview with Wired...

ps5 render

"As a gamer, it's been a little bit of a frustration that audio did not change too much between PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. With the next console, the dream is to show how dramatically different the audio experience can be when we apply significant amounts of hardware horsepower to it."

Apparently the 3D Audio tech is impressing developers, as well. In some follow up interviews, a few different developers have brought up the new 3D Audio. Samuel Justice, Co-Founder and Supervising Sound Designer of Sweet Justice Sound (a company behind the sound in Fortnite, Half-Life: Alyx, Mortal Kombat 11 among others), said...

"I think the raw computing power needed to create realistic audio models is largely overlooked. In the past, we have managed to create fairly good representations of acoustic modeling through a lot of trickery and clever techniques. The ability to fully realize automated 3D audio is a big step forward for game audio and will certainly result in much richer experiences."

Although it's exciting to hear about the possibilities of this tech, it will be very interesting to see how impressive of a home audio system consumers need to own to fully take advantage of this tech. Fully realized 3D audio could definitely be a major selling point for the console, assuming shoppers don't also have to go broke purchasing sound bars and speakers to place throughout their rooms.

The PS5 launches sometime in late 2020.

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Source: Wired via WCCFtech