Here's an obvious fact: Sony is working on a next generation video game console to succeed the very popular PlayStation 4.

Sony's CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, said in an interview with the Financial Times that he was working on a successor to the PS4, but that he was not calling the PlayStation 5. "At that stage, I can say that it is necessary to have a next-generation equipment, "he said.

His commitment to a console coincided with Microsoft's announcement that Microsoft was currently testing Project xCloud's streaming technology for playing Xbox games on phones and tablets. Public tests should start next year.

For its part, Sony offers streaming games on the PS4 and PCs with its PlayStation Now subscription service, which was also available on Samsung smart TVs.

Although Yoshida did not specify when Sony could market a new system, Sony Interactive Entertainment's CEO, John Kodera, alluded to 2021, as reported by Digital Trends' digital information website. "We are going to use the next three years to prepare for the next stage, so we can look further into the future," he said in May 2018, noting that PS4 was entering the "final phase of its life".

It is unlikely that Sony will give up the name of the PlayStation, which has been so successful over the last three decades. The PlayStation 2 was the best selling console game system to date, surpassing the 155 million units sold.

While the PS4, which has sold more than 80 million euros since its launch in 2013, still has some way to go, it will probably far exceed sales of the PS3, which is the largest PS3 in the world. is sold at around 83.8 million euros, according to GameSpot. The original PlayStation, launched in Japan in 1994 and the United States in 1995, sold for 102.4 million euros.

Follow the USA TODAY reporter, Mike Snider, on Twitter: @ MikeSnider.

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