The PlayStation 5 will turn six years old this year, which for a game console, means it’s coming into its twilight years. So, it’s understandable that gamers are starting to wonder what’s next for Sony. However, there is nothing official yet from Sony on when the PlayStation 6 might arrive.
Still, reports and rumors are circulating about Sony’s next-gen game console. While Sony has a sizable market lead over Microsoft’s Xbox, it now has different competition coming from the new powered-up Nintendo Switch 2 and the upcoming Steam Machine home console from Valve. Both devices offer different challenges for Sony in terms of portability, library of games and pricing.
Here’s what we know about the PS6 so far.
When will the PS6 come out?
Sony, for obvious reasons, hasn’t provided a window for when the PS6 will come out. Speculation puts the console’s release in 2027, which would be seven years after the release of the PS5, and consoles have generally been on a seven-year cycle.
Sony could push the release to 2028, according to a report from David Gibson, senior analyst at MST Financial. He believes the new PlayStation will likely be delayed as the company is expanding the lifecycle of the PS5, according to VideoGame Chronicles. However, a new report from Bloomberg says the release date could be pushed back to 2029, thanks to the current RAM shortage.
Will the PS6 be a handheld?
It does appear that Sony might be developing both a console and a handheld. Rumors were circulating that Sony was creating a handheld on par with the Nintendo Switch to complement the console.
The speculation is that this handheld will be able to play new PS6 games, as well as PS5 and PS4 games. While this seems unlikely from a handheld, it’s possible the device would have enough power to run PS5 games and, in turn, PS4 titles, while PS6 games would be playable at a lower visual quality.
The YouTube channel Moore’s Law Is Dead reported in December that this PS6 handheld is already being tested by developers but that its lower-power mode reportedly doesn’t play PS5 games well, as it lowers the frames of the game when in use.
Sony’s strategy for this generation could be about keeping players in the PlayStation ecosystem at home and on the go, instead of them being tempted by competitor handhelds such as the Xbox ROG Ally or Steam Deck.
How much will the PS6 cost?
Arguably, figuring out the potential pricing for this upcoming generation of consoles requires so many unknown factors that complicate the answer.
Current tariffs, for example, have caused Sony, like Microsoft and Nintendo, to raise console prices, and it’s hard to predict what will happen in the coming years. The tariffs could go away, but if they continue, Sony may have to move its console production to another country that has a minimal tariff or hope that the countries that manufacture its hardware — Vietnam and China — strike a deal with the US.
Another issue is the RAM shortage and the resulting skyrocketing prices. Brought on by the demands of data centers across the globe being built out to handle the growth in AI usage, memory prices have already jumped. Those increases are leading to more expensive desktops, laptops and, really, anything that uses RAM, like tablets, phones and gaming devices.
The sweet spot for any console release would be $500, but that seems more like a pipe dream at this point. What could be used as a marker for hardware prices is Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine later this year, which is speculated to stay in the $600 to $700 range.
As for the handheld portion, the pricing could be more aggressive than the offering of the current handheld market. A video from August by Moore’s Law Is Dead says the pricing for the PS6 portable could be in the range of $400 to $500. This could mean that to get the full PS6 experience, gamers will have to drop at least $1,000.
What are the PS6 specs?
Like other gaming hardware makers, Sony is working closely with AMD for its components. Back in October, the lead architect for the PS5, Mark Cerny, hosted a video with Jack Huynh, SVP and GM of AMD’s computing and graphics group, which was uploaded to the PlayStation YouTube channel.
While the talk between the two didn’t confirm what technology will power the PS6, they hinted a bit about what’s next with a collaboration between the two companies, called Project Amethyst.
Huynh introduced Radiance Cores, which are AMD’s new technology for ray tracing and path tracing. Another technology introduced to handle the GPU demands of AMD’s Fidelity Super Resolution (FSR) and PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling is Neural Arrays, while AMD’s Universal Compression can help relieve bottlenecks with the GPU memory bandwidth limitations.
While there are few verifiable details about the chips powering the PS6, Sony will work with AMD to create customized hardware for its PS6, just like Nintendo did with the Switch 2 and Microsoft is doing with the next Xbox.
The PS6 is likely to have at least 16GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive for storage. It will also likely have the latest standards for wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi 7, and the newest media interface, HDMI 2.2.
Sony will also develop some other PlayStation-focused features in the same fashion as the adaptive triggers on the DualSense PS5 controller and more functionality with cloud gaming for PS Plus subscribers.
Many questions are still left to be answered about the PS6, with the ultimate question on whether the 10th generation of game consoles will, in fact, be the last.
