SONY has issued an update on PS6 following reports that the release date could be ‘sooner’ than we thought.
And gamers can’t wait to get their hands on the new exciting console.
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The Sun revealed that court documents from Microsoft, which owns Xbox, previously revealed that the tech giant was expecting a 2028 launch for next-gen consoles.
That included its own top-secret Xbox successor as well as Sony’s unnamed next-gen PlayStation.
But countering that was a new report from Insider Gaming that suggested an upcoming Blade Runner game due for 2027 has been cancelled.
The report noted that the game was due to land on next-gen consoles that are yet to be released.
This unannounced game was reportedly due to be called Blade Runner: Time To Leave.
It entered pre-production in September 2024 with a budget of around £33 million / $45 million.
But the game has supposedly been canned by the Guildford, UK-based studio.
However, it was a major hint that the PS6 might land in 2027 rather than 2028.
Now, Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s new president and CEO, Hideaki Nishino, was asked during a meeting about the future of PlayStation console hardware, and whether it could be superseded by cloud gaming.
He said: “Cloud streaming is progressing well from a technical standpoint, as we have demonstrated with [our] offerings, but end-to-end network stability is not in our control.
“And the higher cost per playtime compared to the traditional console model remains a challenge.
“Cloud gaming is increasingly providing an additional option for players to access content,
“But our belief is that the majority of players continue to want to experience gaming through local execution without dependency on network conditions.
“And PS5 and PS5 Pro have validated this thesis, I believe,” reports Video Games Chronicle.
Sony PlayStation Release Dates
Here’s a quick history of the main models released.
Sony PlayStation:
- Japan – December 3, 1994
- North America – September 9, 1995
- Europe – September 29, 1995
Sony PlayStation 2:
- Japan – March 4, 2000
- North America – October 26, 2000
- Europe – November 24, 2000
Sony PlayStation 3:
- Japan – November 11, 2006
- North America – November 17, 2006
- Europe – March 23, 2007
Sony PlayStation 4:
- North America – November 15, 2013
- Europe – November 29, 2013
- Japan – February 22, 2014
Sony PlayStation 5:
- Japan – November 12, 2020
- North America – November 12, 2020
- Europe – November 12, 2020
The CEO continued to explain how Sony’s console business has evolved into a “multi-faceted platform”, with a significant portion of its 124 million monthly active users still playing on PlayStation 4.
“We now have a large ecosystem of highly engaged players across both the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 4 generations.
“So naturally, therefore, there’s a huge interest in our next generation console strategy,” he said.
“While we cannot share further details at this stage, the future of the platform is top of mind.
“We are committed to exploring a new and enhanced way for players to engage with our content and services.”
SVP of finance and corporate development, Lynn Azar, was then asked if Sony expects to see higher profits in the year its next console launches, like it has before.
Azar emphasized that Sony’s players are now engaged across multiple platforms, including PS4, PS5 and PC.
And explained that the vast majority of its revenue now comes from subscriptions and microtransactions, which should provide protection during any future platform migration.
She added: “PS5 represents our most engaged players, with the highest spend per player versus prior generations.
“Our PS4 players as well are still active and spending as well.
“So, by providing players with increasing options of how to access the platform, we’re able to better target the different play patterns and monetization profiles of different customer segments.
“And as we continue to drive a multi-generational ecosystem into the future, we’ll provide new ways for players to access the platform and experience our content and services.”
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE PS6 LAUNCH WINDOW?
Sony hasn’t explicitly confirmed a launch timeline for the PS6 but the company has released plenty of consoles in the past, giving us some useful data.
Just last year, we asked AI to predict the PS6 release date, based on Sony’s PlayStation release history.
And it came up with Thursday, November 11, 2027 – fitting in with this latest leak.
Here’s a list of previous PlayStation release dates, as well as the days of the week that those consoles launched on:
- PlayStation – Saturday, December 3, 1994 (1st Saturday)
- PS One – Friday, July 7, 2000 (1st Friday)
- PlayStation 2 – Saturday, March 4, 2000 (1st Saturday)
- PS2 Slimline – Friday, October 29, 2004 (5th Friday)
- PlayStation 3 – Saturday, November 11, 2006 (2nd Saturday)
- PS3 Slim – Thursday, August 27, 2009 (4th Thursday)
- PS3 Super Slim – Tuesday, September 25, 2012 (4th Tuesday)
- PlayStation 4 – Friday, November 15, 2013 (3rd Friday)
- PS4 Slim – Thursday, September 15, 2016 (3rd Thursday)
- PS4 Pro – Thursday, November 10, 2016 (2nd Thursday)
- PlayStation 5 – Thursday, November 12, 2020 (2nd Thursday)
- PS5 Slim – Friday, November 10, 2023 (2nd Friday)
- PS5 Pro – Thursday, November 7, 2024 (1st Thursday)
That would suggest that Sony would work towards a 2027 launch.
November is usually favoured by Sony for PlayStation launches, especially in recent years.
That means the console is out just in time for Christmas and the Black Friday spending season.
But of course, it’s all guesswork – so watch this space.
In the meantime, PlayStation owners are having to pay extra for consoles after a recent PS5 price hike.
And a shooter game loved by 10million is closing in days – as fans are warned they’ll have to pay for an upgrade to keep playing.
Plus, Sony has announced that it will be issuing refunds over a gaming blunder.
The gaming giant had to issue an apology after gamers experienced significant problems with one if its new releases.
