PS5 and new Xbox Series X could be delayed as China coronavirus crisis grows
GAMERS may be forced to wait even longer before getting get their mitts on the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
That's because production of the hotly-anticipated machines could be delayed or halted ahead of their releases just before Christmas.
Scores of factories in China – where the consoles are being put together – have closed following the terrifying coronavirus outbreak.
Workers at major plants building tech for Apple, Sony and more are being told to stay at home in a bid to stem the spread of the disease.
The shutdowns have halted manufacturing, threatening to strangle the supply of gadgets like iPhones and games consoles to Western markets.
One company has claimed the crisis could disrupt production of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
Financial services firm Jefferies Group published a note last week suggesting the delays may push back the consoles' respective release dates.
Both announced last year, the PS5 and Series X are the first major consoles in seven years from Sony and Microsoft. They've been given vague "Holidays 2020" release dates.
"The video game sector is currently manufacturing, or beginning to, a once-in-several-years' product generation change for the 2020 holiday season," the Jefferies Group note reads, according to .
"If [company] shutdowns exceed a month or so, game schedules will be delayed.
"New consoles may likewise suffer supply issues from a prolonged disruption, ahead of their Fall 2020 planned launches."
It's hard to know how long the coronavirus outbreak will last, but it's showing no signs of slowing down.
The number of deaths has rocketed to 910 with more than 40,000 cases reported globally.
Health secretary Matt Hancock warned on Monday that the virus had become a "serious and imminent threat" to Brits following a handful of confirmed cases in the UK.
While companies like Nintendo have already announced production delays due to factory shutdowns, it's unlikely Sony and Microsoft consoles will be affected, according to one expert.
That's because the gaming giants could shift production to other countries to dodge productions woes.
"Xbox and PlayStation don’t have to be produced in China, but obviously that is the lowest cost country," industry analyst Michael Pachter told .
"I think Sony and Microsoft will quietly arrange for production in Taiwan and Vietnam (at a cost of maybe $5 – 10 per unit more at most) just to be safe."
The Sun has contacted Microsoft and Sony for comment.
Microsoft confirmed in December that its new console would be named the Xbox Series X.
The contraption will apparently run games at 4K resolution - double that of HD - with the possibility of running 8K.
It will also process games faster so as to "eliminate" loading times. A new Halo title will launch with the console.
Where did coronavirus start? From bats to snakes - the theories on deadly virus' origins
The killer coronavirus was spread from bats to snakes to humans, experts have claimed.
An outbreak of the virus is understood to have started at an open air fish market in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which has since been put in lockdown after 25 people died and more than 600 people were infected globally.
A new study published in the China Science Bulletin this week claimed that the new coronavirus shared a strain of virus found in bats.
Previous deadly outbreaks of SARS and Ebola were also believed to have originated in the flying mammal.
Experts had thought the new virus wasn't capable of causing an epidemic as serious as those outbreaks because its genes were different.
But this latest research appeared to prove otherwise - as scientists scrabble to produce a vaccine.
In a statement, the researchers said: “The Wuhan coronavirus’ natural host could be bats … but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate."
Meanwhile, scientists at Peking University also claim that the deadly virus was passed to humans from bats - but say it was through a mutation in snakes.
The researchers said that the new strain is made up of a combination of one that affects bats and another unknown coronavirus.
They believe that combined genetic material from both bats and this unknown strain picked up a protein that allows viruses bind to certain host cells - including those of humans.
After analysing the genes of the strains the team found that snakes were susceptible to the most similar version of the coronavirus.
It meant that they likely provided a "reservoir" for the viral strain to grow stronger and replicate.
Snakes are sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in central Wuhan and may have jumped to other animals before passing to humans, they claim.
But a senior researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, who asked not to be named, said the findings should be treated with caution.
He told the : “It is based on calculation by a computer model.
“Whether it will match what happens in real life is inconclusive.
“The binding protein is important, but it is just one of the many things under investigation. There may be other proteins involved.”
The expert believes that the new strain was an RNA virus, meaning that its mutation speed was 100 times faster than that of a DNA virus such as smallpox.
Sony got in a bit before Microsoft, revealing details of its PS5 console in October.
Loading up a game on the PlayStation 5 will be ten times faster than on PS4, according to the company.
We're expecting new God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn titles to launch with the console.
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In other news, Sony recently confirmed the PS5 will release in time for Christmas 2020.
A recent "price leak" suggested that the console could cost £250 more than its predecessor.
And we reveal the best PS5 games you can expect to play this year.
Do you plan on splashing out on one of the new consoles? Let us know in the comments!
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