As the PlayStation 5 inches closer to the 100 million sales milestone, Sony says it’s going all-in on PlayStation 6 development next year.
Although the current theory is that the PlayStation 6 will launch in 2028, it remains perfectly possible that it could still be released next year or that it will be delayed until much later. In short, nobody knows and that probably includes Sony, who have to contend with the deepening component crisis.
In the meantime, there seems to be little anticipation on the part of fans, as evidenced by how the PlayStation 5 is continuing to sell well. Not to mention that the PlayStation 6 is expected to be ludicrously expensive, putting it out of the reach of many potential customers.
If you’re to take Sony at face value, though, it seems the company remains gung-ho about getting its next console out within the next couple of years, as development on the PlayStation 6 is said to be ‘progressing as scheduled.’
This is according to Sony’s chief financial officer Lin Tao, who commented on the PlayStation 6 during a web call with investors as part of the company’s latest fiscal earnings, which cover the second quarter of the 2026 fiscal year (July to September).
Granted, Tao never referred to the PlayStation 6 by name, but there’s little else that the ‘next generation platform’ he mentions could be. Sony also didn’t use the name PlayStation 5 until surprisingly close to its release.
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‘Looking ahead to the next fiscal year, we aim to continue to enhance user engagement and further strengthen monetisation through the release of strong titles and the expansion of our service. We also intend to make solid progress in preparing for the next-generation platform,’ said Tao, as transcribed by VGC.
‘From next fiscal year onward, there will be investment in the new platform,’ he continued. ‘For future growth, we have to attach great importance to a new platform and make the necessary investments for that.
‘We have to support the soundness of our platform and think about how rationally we can invest in that platform. We will announce that at an appropriate time in the future.’
As Sony recognises in its financial results, hardware sales were up for its last quarter. Compared to the 1.6 million PlayStation 5s it sold in the first quarter (April to June), it sold 2.6 million, bringing the console’s lifetime sales up to 97.9 million.
Granted, hardware sales haven’t been as high as the 7.9 million sold in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year (October to December 2025), but that was thanks to Christmas discounts.
Sony’s not announced any similar plans for this Christmas but it has revised its forecasts for game sales and operating income this fiscal year, to be higher than previously expected, citing the ‘Impact of increase in sales of non-first-party game software titles’, which can only be referring to the juggernaut that is GTA 6.
There’s also no telling how Sony’s 2027 will go. The company’s biggest exclusive next year is God Of War Laufey, which was recently delayed to May 2027, but there’s speculation that Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will be out by Christmas too.
Having two big exclusives from two of Sony’s most prestigious developers could yield another boost in hardware sales, which could in turn make Sony reconsider trying to push the PlayStation 6 onto people.
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