New rumors suggest that the successor of Sony's PlayStation 4 might come out sometime in 2017.

As for its possible features, some sources are speculating that the PlayStation 5 might come with built-in support for new emerging trends in the gaming industry.

Although Sony has not yet confirmed the details of the PlayStation 5, it is rumored that the company is already working on its newest console. However, a 2017 release date seems a bit early given Sony's release dates for its PlayStation models.

Usually, it takes around six years before the company launches a new console. For the PlayStation 4, it came out seven years after the debut of its predecessor.

But as Value Walk pointed out, Sony might push for an early release date for the PlayStation 5 due to its need to cope with the latest technological trends.

Although the PlayStation 4 remains as one of the top consoles currently available on the market, Sony is having a hard time competing with upgrades for desktop computers. As seen in recent reports about new video game releases, it seems the 4K resolution setting is becoming the new standard in running titles with high-quality graphics.

This is not good for Sony and even its competitor Microsoft since their PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles do not have the sufficient processing power to easily run games at 4K resolution.

Aside from the high standard in graphics quality, the emergence of virtual reality technology for games is putting a lot of pressure on Sony to keep its users happy.

Although the Japanese tech firm is already preparing for this with the release of the upcoming Project Morpheus headset for the PlayStation 4, the company still needs to improve the technology's functionality with the console.

Sony could work on this through the PlayStation 5 and include support for virtual reality technology as a standard feature and not just an add-on, according to PC Advisor.

Given Sony's need to adapt to new technology in order to stay ahead in the industry, it would be extremely advantageous for the company to release the PlayStation 5 in 2017 or possibly earlier.