Even with the PlayStation 6 expected in 2027 or 2028, Sony has no intention of ditching the PlayStation 5 any time soon.
There has typically always been a roughly seven-year gap between new generations of video game consoles. So, with the PlayStation 5 on the cusp of its fifth birthday, it’s understandable why many are expecting the PlayStation 6 to drop in a couple of years or so.
Sony has already begun working on new hardware, with chip manufacturer AMD announcing a partnership with the PlayStation company on something called Project Amethyst earlier this year.
However, that doesn’t mean the PlayStation 5 is nearly on its way out. In fact, Sony has suggested it will keep supporting the PlayStation 5 for at least another five years.
This is according to Sony’s chief financial officer Lin Tao during an earnings call with investors, who described the PlayStation 5 as only being around the halfway point of its lifecycle following its launch in November 2020.
‘There are many active users enjoying the console. … So, from that perspective, we believe that the PlayStation 5 is only in the middle of the journey, and we are really planning to expand it even further,’ explained Tao.
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If this is the case, does this mean the PlayStation 6 is much further off than people thought it was? Not necessarily, no. For starters, PlayStation 5 architect Mark Cerny inferred that a new console was only a few years’ away in a video published last month.
Second of all, while there’s no official info on the PlayStation 6, it’s reasonable to assume that it’s going to be very expensive no matter when it comes out. Even ignoring rumours of it costing upwards of £1,000, gaming hardware prices have only gone up in recent years, with the PlayStation 5 itself undergoing two price hikes.
As such, this would make the PlayStation 6 a hard sell for anyone but especially hardcore fans. The PlayStation 5 will still have a sizable player base so it’s important they continue to be supported alongside the newer console, which means you can expect a lot of cross-gen games designed for both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 6.
This already happened with the PlayStation 5’s launch. Between stock constantly selling out, its price, and very few exclusives available at launch, Sony had no choice but to keep supporting the PlayStation 4. It even had to start manufacturing PlayStation 4 consoles again in 2022.
There’s also the matter of Microsoft’s next Xbox console. Although it too lacks an official release date, the common theory is that it is also aiming for a 2027 launch.
While the PlayStation 5 has thoroughly stomped the Xbox Series X/S in terms of sales (to the point where Microsoft has given up on exclusives altogether), Sony’s not going to want to let any new Xbox console run unopposed.
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