Sony has elevated manufacturing on its upcoming PlayStation 5 console in preparation for the machine’s launch.

In response to stories from Japan, Sony is boosting the variety of consoles made by at the very least 50 p.c. Nikkei stories that orders for the console have been elevated from six million to round 9 million, in accordance with sources. Bloomberg Japan stories that quantity will attain 10 million by the top of the yr.

The coronavirus pandemic is the reason for elevated manufacturing: as more people stay indoors, which is able to probably extend till the top of the year, Sony says it expects to see a rise in demand for the next-generation console.

If Sony manages to promote that many consoles, it might put the PlayStation 5 in additional homes than the PlayStation 4. Over 4.2 million PlayStation four consoles had been offered by the 28 December 2013 – a powerful feat because the console was launched in November that yr.

Nonetheless, whereas Sony might be able to produce huge portions of the brand new console, it stays unclear whether or not they may all be shipped earlier than the top of the yr.

This appears to go in opposition to earlier stories that mentioned Sony expects the PlayStation 5 to be less popular as the previous generation due to his high price, which has yet to be revealed.

“We may be affected if there continue to be issues involving the procurement of necessary components,” Nintendo warned, with supply chain issues also reportedly hitting the manufacturing of its Joy Con controllers.

Although shipping could be a problem, the manufacturer of game consoles shouldn’t be troublesome for Sony. The Japanese video game giant has been utilizing a robot army to build a new PlayStation 4 console every 30 seconds, and although it is yet to be confirmed, it’s probably a similar level of automation can be used for its new console.

Reports suggest the PlayStation 5 will launch for around $550, and the company has mentioned it will arrive “Holiday 2020”