Updated | PlayStation 5 design patent slips out: An initial look at the PlayStation 4 successor and Xbox Scarlett competitor?

Published by LetsGoDigital, the Brazilian patents are for an unknown device, which Sony registered just last week. The Dutch website points out that Sony has designated the device as a Class 14.02 patent, a class that includes data processing and peripheral equipment. Sony also registered the PlayStation 4 under Class 14.02, adding to the speculation that we are looking at an early design of the PlayStation 5.

LetsGoDigital claims that Sony rarely patents designs that it does not intend to release, although we cannot currently verify this statement. While the disc drive, abundance and distribution of ports all point towards a games console, its design looks overly ostentatious compared to the various iterations of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.

The numerous grilles and fins look akin to a gaming PC rather than something that would sit in people's living rooms. Hence, could we instead be looking at a dev kit, which are often boxier than the retail counterparts? If not, and this proves to be an early look at the PlayStation 5, then it may prove to be bulkier beast than people may have imagined.