<\/p>\n
What is time? It feels like PlayStation 5 was released yesterday, but it\u2019s actually more than five years old. This year will see its sixth birthday, which is usually when we can expect to start hearing more about a console\u2019s successor. Seven years is a typical console generation lifespan; no PlayStation has ever been released more than seven years after its predecessor, and the eight-year gaps between Switch and Switch 2, or Xbox 360 and Xbox One, are the longest ever for a home console. (Both pale next to the Game Boy\u2019s incredible 12-year run, though.)<\/p>\n
If it doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s time to start thinking about the PS6 yet, it\u2019s because lengthening game development times have slowed the pace of new releases for PS5, because initial take-up of the console was slowed by supply issues, and because the Covid-19 pandemic distorted everyone\u2019s sense of time. But the time is upon us all the same.<\/p>\n
As it happens, there are reasons why the PS5 could keep going for a few years yet. But regardless, Sony is surely already planning for the next PlayStation, and considering how it\u2019s going to extend PS5\u2019s dominance of the dedicated home console market and crushing defeat of Xbox into the next generation. Here\u2019s what we know so far.<\/p>\n
Sony is considering pushing back the launch of the PlayStation 6 to 2028 or even 2029. That\u2019s according to a Bloomberg report on the RAM crisis that is engulfing the whole computing sector. The insatiable demand for memory chips to put in processors in the AI datacenters being built out by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others is causing severe supply issues and huge price hikes in the cost of all kinds of computing, including games hardware. The crisis has forced Valve to delay the launch of its Steam Machine and allow the Steam Deck to run out of stock.<\/p>\n
The implication is that Sony feels it\u2019s better to sit out the crisis a while longer and see if prices stabilize, and if it can secure a supply of chips for the PS6, before it commits to manufacturing and launch dates for the new console. Earlier leaks had suggested that Sony planned to begin manufacturing PS6 in 2027 for a late 2027 or early 2028 release date, which would have been consistent with their strategy for the previous three console generations.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know, and we\u2019re probably a long way from knowing. Until recently it seemed that a November 2027 release for the PlayStation 6 was on the cards, if not actually the plan, following the pattern established by the PS3, PS4, and PS5.<\/p>\n
Sources don\u2019t appear to believe that the decision to delay the PS6 beyond this point has been taken yet. But it is definitely in consideration due to the RAM crisis, with Sony now looking at 2028 or even 2029 as a possible release date for the new console.<\/p>\n
As well as the current difficulty of securing enough chips and setting a reasonable price point, there are other reasons Sony might choose to wait before releasing the PS6.<\/p>\n
The PS5 has sold well, on par with the PS4, but it has done so in what appears to be a shrinking overall market for dedicated home consoles. The adoption rate for the current generation has been slow, with the biggest games like Fortnite<\/em>, Roblox<\/em>, and Minecraft<\/em> still very playable on older hardware. Lengthening game development cycles (also impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic) mean that current hardware feels underexploited; GTA 6<\/em>, bound to be the PS5\u2019s defining game, hasn\u2019t been released yet. Meanwhile, diminishing returns from technological advances are clashing with the ballooning cost of developing games for current specs.<\/p>\n All of these are reasons why consumer demand for another generation of PlayStation is probably on the low side \u2014 and why, as Bloomberg\u2019s Jason Schreier put it, a 2027 release for PS6 would be \u201ca disaster for everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s too early to predict the pricing for PS6, not least because the RAM crisis is driving rapid increases in the cost of consumer electronics. For this reason, Valve is currently unwilling to set a price for the Steam Machine, a device that it expects to launch this year. That being the case, it would be foolish to predict how much a PS6 will cost in 2028 or beyond.<\/p>\n That said, be ready for the console to cost more than previous generations, due to demand for microchips as well as inflation and general economic factors. Earlier generations of PlayStation saw their prices reduced over their lifespans, while the PS5 costs more now than it did at launch, and the PS5 Pro has hit $750.<\/p>\n Analysts were predicting that the PS6 might launch at $600 back in 2024. They would likely revise that estimate upward now. For its part, Sony\u2019s rival Microsoft has warned that the next Xbox will be a \u201cvery premium, very high end\u201d \u2014 meaning, expensive \u2013 device.<\/p>\n Image: Insomniac Games\/Sony Interactive Entertainment<\/p>\n It\u2019s very hard to say what games PS6 will have at this point, not least because of the potential delay to its launch. Although games planned for PS6 are almost certainly already in development, most developers \u2014 Sony itself included \u2014 will be keeping their options open in terms of platform while they wait to see when the new console will arrive.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example: When Sony-owned developer Insomniac was hacked in 2023 its future development roadmap leaked, including proposed dates for Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man 3<\/em> in 2028 and Marvel\u2019s X-Men<\/em> in 2030. Who knows if these dates remain accurate \u2014 a 2025 Venom game didn\u2019t materialize, but Marvel\u2019s Wolverine<\/em>\u2019s 2026 launch still seems locked in.<\/p>\n Assuming they are, Spider-Man 3<\/em> was probably planned as a PS6 game. If PS6 doesn\u2019t launch until 2028 or 2029, will Insomniac delay Spider-Man 3<\/em>, shift it to PS5, or go for a cross-gen launch? All seem plausible.<\/p>\n We can safely assume Marvel\u2019s X-Men<\/em> will be a PS6 game, though. So that\u2019s one!<\/p>\n There are a bunch of other contenders, all unconfirmed, including Gran Turismo 8<\/em>, a new Astro Bot game, an unannounced title in development at Naughty Dog (not thought to be The Last of Us Part 3<\/em>), and whatever Santa Monica Studio is currently making. All of these could go to PS5, PS6, or both.<\/p>\n And what about Grand Theft Auto 7<\/em>? Well, given how long it is taking Rockstar Games to make GTA 6<\/em>, it might be safer to earmark GTA 7<\/em> for PS7. Or maybe PS8.<\/p>\n At last, here\u2019s a question we can answer with a degree of certainty. It\u2019s highly likely that the PS6 will be backward-compatible with PS5 games, and probably PS4 games, too.<\/p>\n Like Microsoft, Sony has announced that it\u2019s going to continue to work with chip supplier AMD on the processors for its future hardware. Reports suggest that the PS6 will use a next-gen Zen processor that\u2019s compatible with the x86 architecture used in PS4 and PS5, making backward compatibility easy to implement.<\/p>\n Backward compatibility has also become an expectation among players, who have become used to bringing their game libraries forward onto new hardware. It\u2019s arguably a necessity for Sony and its partners, too. The pace of game development has slowed enough that the PS5 would have really struggled for software in its first few years if it hadn\u2019t also been able to play PS4 games.<\/p>\n Image: Naughty Dog\/Sony Interactive Entertainment<\/p>\n There have been a few unconfirmed leaks about the PS6\u2019s specs, although as yet there\u2019s nothing quite substantial enough to treat as gospel. All we know for sure is that AMD will once again supply the silicon.<\/p>\n That being said, we can expect the processor will be a custom iteration of AMD\u2019s next-gen Zen 6 chip. Similarly, the new RDNA 5 graphics unit from AMD will likely form the basis of the PS6\u2019s GPU.<\/p>\n Some have suggested that the console will have as much as 30 GB of GDDR7 RAM, but there doesn\u2019t seem to be enough evidence to support this yet.<\/p>\n Most agree on the target performance of the spec, though: the PS6 should be capable of 4K gaming at 120 frames per second with advanced ray tracing. (This doesn\u2019t mean that all games will run at this level, though \u2014 far from it!)<\/p>\n This is a whole separate topic, really, but it\u2019s worth mentioning here. Sony is widely reported to be working on a handheld PlayStation to compete with Nintendo\u2019s Switch 2 as well as the Steam Deck, Xbox Ally, and other PC handhelds.<\/p>\n The key question about this device is its level of compatibility with the PlayStation catalog. Full PS4 compatibility would seem to be a given, and most reports suggest the handheld will be able to run PS5 games too \u2014 if not necessarily all of them, or at the same quality as PS5.<\/p>\n In fact, some level of PS6 compatibility is even possible, because the handheld is rumored to use a cut-down version of the same Zen 6 and RDNA 5 architecture employed in PS6. With increasing overlap between hardware generations being a trend, and with third-party games needing to run on a very wide range of hardware (factoring in PC and, sometimes, Switch and Switch 2), there\u2019s a chance that the handheld PlayStation will be able to keep pace with its biggest brother for some time.<\/p>\n Check out this Digital Foundry report for lots more detail on the topic of the PlayStation handheld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is time? It feels like PlayStation 5 was released yesterday, but it\u2019s actually more than five years old. This year will see its sixth birthday, which is usually when we can expect to start hearing more about a console\u2019s successor. Seven years is a typical console generation lifespan; no PlayStation has ever been released<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2946,4212,524,1637,4590],"class_list":{"0":"post-4829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-console-gaming","8":"tag-console","9":"tag-nextgen","10":"tag-playstation","11":"tag-ps6","12":"tag-sonys"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n What will PS6\u2019s price be?
\n <\/h2>\n\n What games will PS6 have?
\n <\/h2>\n\n Will PS6 be backward-compatible?
\n <\/h2>\n\n What are PS6\u2019s tech specs? How powerful will it be?
\n <\/h2>\n\n What about the next-gen PlayStation handheld?
\n <\/h2>\n