Earlier this month, Sony surprised many by revealing details about the PS5, detailing some of the console's specs and features like the PS5's backwards compatibility. Although some may have seen Sony's decision to announce the PS5 in such an unceremonious manner as odd, according to one reporter, the company had a very smart reason for wanting to confirm information about the console so early.

In a post on Twitter, journalist Jason Schreier revealed that the reason Sony "randomly" dropped all of that PS5 news is to avoid leaks. Apparently, Sony is now sending out PS5 development kits to third-party development teams and the PlayStation platform holder was concerned about information coming out before its own announcements. So, to "beat everyone to it," Sony decided to officially announce some features on its own terms.

Sony's early PS5 announcements may be seen as a very smart business move, for a few reasons. For instance, with Sony confirming features and teasing potential services and games for PS5, it can control the message. People would not be able to speculate about leaked information from development kits if Sony had already said that a feature is or isn't happening.

Another reason for the PS5's early announcement being a smart business tactic is that the PS5 news comes ahead of a major E3 2019 showing by Xbox, which is the PlayStation brand's biggest rival. Microsoft has teased that it has some huge plans for this year's Xbox E3 press conference, with some speculating that it will reveal some of its details for the next-generation Xbox. By discussing the PS5 before the next-generation Xbox is confirmed, it means that Sony will not be playing catch-up by announcing its next-generation plans later down the line.

As Sony is skipping E3 2019, it also allows the PlayStation brand to have some sort of presence at this year's expo without being there. Sony may not have a booth or any big announcements to make, but whatever Microsoft does, it will likely be compared to what Sony has already revealed about the PS5.

The comments made by PlayStation lead systems engineer Mark Cerny about the PS5 did leave fans with many questions. Fans want to know whether games like Death Stranding will be cross-generation (available on the PS4 and the PS5), if they can expect PS4 games to be remastered for the PS5's 8K support, and if Sony is going to further develop its game streaming service for the new console. Sony may not answer for these for a while yet, but the fact that people are asking them at all may be just what the company wants.

Source: Jason Schreier - Twitter