There is no query that persevering with the success of the PlayStation 5 is one in all Sony’s prime priorities, particularly provided that its newest console is getting nearer to 5 years outdated. The Japanese tech big has but to formally announce the PlayStation 6, however over the previous few months there have been some developments which have allowed us some uncommon perception into what form the eventual console would possibly take.
On this put up, we’re rounding up the whole lot we learn about Sony’s PlayStation 6, a possible new Sony handheld, and what the way forward for console gaming would possibly appear to be. Hold checking again for extra as we replace this put up as new info involves mild the nearer we get to an eventual launch date within the subsequent few years.
PS6 Launch Date, Potential Value
Since no formal announcement has been made for the PlayStation 6, there is no launch window to talk of. Taking the corporate’s earlier console era cadence into consideration, one may assume {that a} PS6 may launch in 2027. That will be seven years after the PS5, which itself launched seven years after the PS3. However the gaming trade has modified dramatically since then, which is clear in how lengthy assist for the PS4 has caught round this far into a brand new era of {hardware}. Former PlayStation govt Shuhei Yoshida just lately shared that “2028 feels proper” when requested concerning the PS6, however notably hasn’t been at Sony because the finish of 2024.
Regardless of this, Sony Interactive Leisure‘s new president and CEO Hideaki Nishino stated in a business segment meeting in 2024 that “the way forward for the (PlayStation) platform is prime of thoughts. We are dedicated to exploring a brand new and enhanced manner for gamers to have interaction with our content material and companies.”
Pricing can be equally tough to estimate, particularly with none indication of the {hardware} specification that Sony is focusing on. Most just lately, Sony launched the PS5 Professional, which retailed for $700 and affords essentially the most highly effective console-gaming expertise available on the market. That was a $200 premium over the value of the PS5 at launch. Whether or not the PS6 matches the pricing of the very best PS5 available on the market or falls between the 2 has but to be seen, and can doubtless be affected by the persevering with commerce conflict and inflation.
PS6 Potential Specs
Sony has dedicated to {hardware} within the face of the rising recognition of cloud-primarily based companies, saying that almost all of gamers nonetheless desire a console that performs video games domestically.
“Cloud gaming is more and more offering a further choice for gamers to entry content material, however our perception is that almost all of gamers proceed to need to play and expertise gaming by native execution with out dependency on community circumstances,” Nishino stated. “PS5 and PS5 Professional have validated this thesis, I consider.”
There aren’t any present concrete specs for the PS6, however we do a minimum of know that AMD can be offering {hardware} for the subsequent-era console. This should not be that shocking, provided that AMD has powered each the PS4 and PS5, and will bode nicely for backwards compatibility.
PS6: The Position of AI
Sony’s partnership with AMD extends past {hardware} alone. Sony introduced (*6*) in partnership with AMD when lead architect Mark Cerny revealed the information in the course of the PS5 Professional breakdown, suggesting that the 2 corporations are planning to work carefully collectively on the way forward for graphical enhancements and the {hardware} that empowers it.
This has already borne fruit, with Cerny saying that the newest model on the PS5 Professional-unique upscaler, PSSR, can be utilizing AMD’s just lately launched RDNA 4 suite of AI-powered upscaling choices, which debuted with the RX 9070 collection of graphics playing cards. Cerny says that the newest model of PSSR can be a drop-in substitute for the present implementation in 2026 and, extra importantly, it is going to assist inform the way forward for this know-how for newer {hardware}.
Whereas AMD is anticipated to launch new graphics playing cards in 2026 that assist a more moderen model of RDNA, Cerny cautioned that Sony is not precisely beholden to the identical timelines. “AMD is transferring extraordinarily rapidly,” Cerny said. “What I am attempting to do is put together for the subsequent era of consoles, so my timeframe is multi-yr right here.”
What this all means is that {hardware} is now not the one figuring out issue within the energy of a future console. PSSR is barely supported on the PS5 Professional at present, given its requirement for {hardware} to drive its AI-powered upscaling, and suggests the identical can be true for the PS6. AMD is anticipated to energy the subsequent Xbox too, and the methods through which each Microsoft and Sony work with AMD would possibly decide how nicely any platform-particular branches of those upscaling options work. These alone could possibly be huge differentiators in the course of the subsequent console era.
With that stated, AMD Computing & Graphics SVP and GM Jack Huynh did state in a tweet about Venture Amethyst that AMD and Sony are “growing excessive-high quality neural networks that push the boundaries of actual-time sport graphics,” suggesting that the PS6 will hopefully be a significant leap ahead by way of visible rendering that some have steered was missing with the PS5.
A PlayStation Handheld With The PS6?
Based on a Bloomberg report in 2024, Sony is probably within the planning phases of a brand new gaming handheld–the firm’s first because the PS Vita. The hand held is reportedly being designed to play PS5 video games natively, however would possibly nonetheless be years away from announcement if Sony decides to pursue its improvement.
Sony did launch the PS Portal in 2023, which initially acted solely as a method to play your PS5 video games remotely over a neighborhood community. It has since acquired an replace so as to add the flexibility to stream video games from the cloud to develop its capabilities away out of your console.
The PS Portal was reportedly initially conceived as a brand new handheld platform totally earlier than plans modified nearer to its launch. Given its recognition, and that of different handheld consoles such because the Nintendo Change 2, Steam Deck, and Asus ROG Ally, Sony could be pondering the time is true for an additional try on the handheld market. Microsoft is planning the identical too, albeit with a partnership with Asus in the interim.