New PS5 ad is meant to "evoke some of the feelings" of playing the new console

A fantastical new PS5 ad is trying to "evoke some of the feelings you would get from PlayStation 5", especially if you like boats.

The minute-long commercial titled "The Edge - Play Has No Limits" follows a sailor on a tiny ship out in the open ocean. Seeing a strange wall of light ahead - and hearing the opening synth from Baba O'Riley by The Who - he slams through, then is suddenly surrounded by galleons, futuristic frigates, airplanes, and alien spacecraft. Seeing what looks like the end of the world ahead of him, he cranks up the throttle and leads the strange flotilla onward into a new realm.

PlayStation global head of marketing Eric Lempel told Variety that the ad isn't meant to show off any specific titles or features, but he did tease that “you’re going to see a lot of the games start to play into these campaigns very quickly” - perhaps soon after the PS5 showcase event on September 16.

“We want to excite and thrill you," Lempel said. "We want to show them a path to the mysterious unknown… what you’re seeing is them coming to the edge and then going beyond. And really, that’s what we’re trying to signal here. It’s not about the features. It’s a brand spot.”

Lempel added that evocative ads like these are especially important now, since Sony can't use events to let people try the console out ahead of time (like it would if there wasn't a pandemic on).

“I like where we’re going with our advertising and I like what we’re conveying, but you really won’t get the full experience until you touch it. That’s been an incredible challenge, so we have pivoted some of our communication to really try to strongly evoke the feelings you’ll get from using the console, and that was what our first spot was all about.”

Check out the titles we know are on the way with our guide to upcoming PS5 games.