Sony Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao has said that Sony believes the PlayStation 5 is only at the midpoint of its journey.
The quote came from Sony’s latest quarterly earnings call, where Sony CFO Line Tao revealed that the PlayStation 5 is currently only in the middle of its lifecycle. Tao said,
“Our view is that compared to conventional console lifecycles. Looking at the PS4 lifecycle, it seems to be getting longer and longer. Especially the PS4, which was launched in 2013, and it’s been over a decade since then, but there are many active users enjoying the console… So from that perspective, we believe that the PS5 is only in the middle of the journey, and we are really planning to expand it even further.”
So, When Will The PS6 Release?
Well, Tao’s comments are not actually suggesting that the PlayStation 6 is another five years away, instead, she’s suggesting that the console generation of the PlayStation 5 will bleed through during the PS5. Just like with the current generation with the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, we’re now only just seeing developers move away from the PS4 with its games.
So, in theory at least, the PlayStation 6 is scheduled to release likely in 2027 – 2028, with the PlayStation 5 continuing to be supported to around 2031 – 2032.
The support for the ‘past generation’ is simply because of economics, allowing developers to release on a much bigger market than they would if they just developed games for the latest generation. For instance, on PlayStation 6’s launch, which could sell 10-15 million units in its first year, it’s not an ideal market to solely release a game on. Instead, it’s much better to release on the PlayStation 6 (10-15 million units), plus the PlayStation 5 (likely 100 million units+ by 2027).
It’s why popular games such as Call of Duty still remain on past-generation consoles, simply because the platform still has a large number of players.
What do you think of the PlayStation 5 being in the middle of its generation? When do you think the PS6 will be released? Let us know your thoughts in the Insider Gaming Discord.
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Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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