The PS5 turned two years old last week, and it’s still a tough sell to buy. With that in mind, frustrated shoppers will be happy to hear that there will be at least five years before Sony unveils the PlayStation 6.
This unsurprising revelation was revealed across docs (Opens in a new tab) It was released to the public as part of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) review into Microsoft’s proposed $68 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Although the exact year Sony is considering for a PS6 release has been frustratingly revised, a little logic reveals that it should be 2027 or later.
By the time SIE launches its next generation PlayStation console (which will probably happen [redacted]), would have lost access to Call of Duty,“ He reads the document. But earlier it was revealed that Microsoft offered to keep Activision games on PlayStation until 2027. With the two data points together, it’s very clear that PlayStation 6 is something we won’t be reviewing for at least another five years yet.
PS6: A long way to go
Honestly, this is not surprising. While the tech industry is used to smartphones getting yearly releases, console generations are much slower — a necessity, given the multi-year nature of game production.
The gaps between PlayStation consoles have been pretty consistent, with six years separating the original PlayStation and PS2, and then another six years before the PS3 arrived. The PS4 arrived seven years later in 2013, with the PS5 next in 2020. Looking through that lens, six, seven, or even eight years for this console generation seems perfectly reasonable.
Not only is this time frame surprising, but it’s not disappointing either. Those who’ve managed to get 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 capabilities.
With a few notable exceptions, the best PS5 games tend to be moderately enhanced versions of titles you could happily play on PS4, and games that really push the console’s boundaries are a few years old now. Just compare PS3 launch titles (ex: Resistance: Fall of Man) to games released near the end of their life (ex: The Last of Us) and you’ll see what kind of jump can be made in a generation as developers learn to work with the power of hardware .
But if you’re still disappointed by this news, remember that “No PS6” isn’t the same as “No hardware optimizations.” While we’ve only seen minor reviews of the PS5 so far, there’s always the possibility of a PS5 Slim or even a PS5 Pro coming before 2027. Hopefully by that point the device will be readily available to anyone who wants one.
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