If Sony's latest claims are to be believed, the PS5 can process data 100 times faster than its predecessor. This could lead to unprecedentedly short loading times, or even unprecedentedly large levels.

This information comes from a May 19 Sony corporate strategy meeting led by President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida. Sony released a shortened version of the presentation in PDF format, which contained considerable information about the PS5.

Much of it we already knew. The console will launch around the end of 2020, the DualSense controller will feature haptic feedback, 3D audio will be a major selling point, etc. However, the slide that caught our attention was titled "Evolution of 'Speed' in Next-Generation Game Console," which claimed that the PS5's processing speed is "about 100 times faster" than the PS4's.

Yoshida did not elaborate on this figure, saying only that "a custom-designed high-speed SSD will enable game data processing speeds of about 100 times faster than the PS4." In particular, he said, it will reduce load times and allow users to move through "vast game worlds" faster.

Those who remember Mark Cerny's deep dive on the PS5 back in March may recall that these numbers are largely consistent with Cerny's argument. In fact, there are reasons why these numbers are astounding. A 100x increase in processing speed is the sort of thing one would normally expect from an enthusiastic developer, not a company CEO or system architect. If the "100x faster" figure is not true, or at least relatively close to the truth, Sony could be in for a lot of backlash.

More likely, "100 times faster" is a relative term, since there are many ways to measure processing speed. Furthermore, raw processing power does not necessarily translate to in-game performance. If it did, a gaming PC would be able to load most titles unimaginably faster than a console machine. Still, this is an impressive claim, and one that Sony will need to back up in some way later this year.

It is also worth noting that this is the latest in a long line of claims that SSDs are the key to the PS5's power; while the PS5's GPU is not as powerful as the Xbox Series X, Cerny and others have claimed that the unique architecture of the PS5's SSDs will enable processing speed improvements, they claim. Again, you will have to evaluate this for yourself when the system is released.