The PS5 turned two last week, and it’s still not exactly easy to buy. With that in mind, frustrated shoppers will be pleased to hear that it’s at least five years before Sony unveils the PlayStation 6.
That unsurprising revelation was revealed via documents (opens in a new tab) released publicly as part of the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) review of Microsoft’s proposed $68 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard. . While the exact year Sony has in mind for the PS6 release has been frustratingly redacted, some logic reveals that it must be 2027 or later.
“When SIE launches the next generation of its PlayStation console (which will probably happen around [redacted]), would have lost access to Call of Duty,” the document reads. But it was previously revealed that Microsoft has offered to keep Activision games on the PlayStation through 2027. With these two data points combined, it’s pretty obvious that the PlayStation 6 is something we won’t be looking into for at least another five years.
PS6: Long way to go
Frankly, this is not surprising. While the tech industry is used to smartphones getting yearly releases, console generations are much slower, essential given the multi-year nature of game production.
The gaps between PlayStation consoles have been quite substantial, with six years separating the original PlayStation and the PS2, and then another six before the arrival of the PS3. The PS4 arrived seven years later in 2013, followed by the PS5 in 2020. Seen through that lens, six, seven, or even eight years for this console generation seems entirely plausible.
Not only is this time frame not surprising, it’s not disappointing either. Anyone who has gotten their hands on the PS5 (myself included) will tell you that the games released so far haven’t even scratched the surface of the console’s potential.
With a handful of notable exceptions, the best PS5 games tend to be lightly souped-up versions of titles you can safely play on PS4, and the ones that really push the limits of the console are still a couple of years away. Just compare PS3 launch titles (example: Resistance: Fall of Man) to games released near the end of its life (example: The Last of Us) and you’ll see the kind of jumping that can be made within of a single generation as developers learn to work with the power of hardware.
But if you’re still disappointed by this news, remember that “no PS6” is not the same thing as “no hardware improvements”. While we’ve only seen minor revisions of the PS5 thus far, there’s always the prospect of a PS5 Slim or even a PS5 Pro before 2027. Hopefully by then the hardware will be readily available to anyone who wants one.
