You’ve probably already heard that the Nintendo Switch 2 is the fastest-selling game console in history with over 3.5 million sold after four days on the market. I am going to make an educated guess that PlayStation and Xbox saw Nintendo’s announcement, because both companies are suddenly rather chatty about their next consoles.
PS6 is ‘top of mind’ for Sony
Last week, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino was asked about PlayStation’s hardware plans (via VGC). He didn’t share any details, but did say that “the future of the platform is top of mind.” He added that the company is “committed to exploring a new and enhanced way for players to engage with our content and services.”
Documents published in 2022 as part of an investigation into Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard claimed that a new generation of consoles wasn’t expected until fall 2028 at the earliest. That would put the PlayStation 6 over three years away.
Considering how quiet Sony has been about the PS6 (until now), I’m willing to bet that’s still the plan. That said, with Nintendo likely to dominate the conversation from now through the holiday season, it’s possible those plans could change.
Xbox teams with AMD for next generation
Not to be left out, Xbox joined in on the fun with its own announcement. As revealed by Xbox president Sarah Bond on Tuesday, Xbox has entered into strategic partnership with AMD to co-engineer chips that will power a range of upcoming devices, including the next-generation Xbox consoles. Xbox has been more direct than PlayStation when it comes to its successor(s) to the Xbox Series X/S, but this is the company’s biggest push to date.
“The collaboration aims to uplevel the player experience by delivering advanced graphics with enhanced visual quality, more immersive gameplay using the power of AI, and compatibility with player’s existing Xbox games library,” Xbox told us on Tuesday. “Together, Xbox and AMD hope to enable play across devices in entirely new ways, delivering an Xbox experience designed for players – without being confined to a single store or tied to one device.”
While initial reports suggested the next generation wouldn’t begin until 2028, the latest rumors have pointed to fall 2026 as a potential release window for the next Xbox. What form that future console will take is a mystery, but as Brad Sams pointed out on X, Microsoft announced “Project Scarlett” (aka Xbox Series X) in June 2019. The Xbox Series X would then launch in fall 2020. If it follows a similar timeline, we could see a new console next fall.
