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Forward-looking: Now that the PlayStation 5 Pro is here, attention is turning toward Sony’s next generation of its console, the PlayStation 6. There’s been plenty of speculation about when it will arrive, and according to Shuhei Yoshida, the former Sony exec who was head of SIE Worldwide Studios, we could be waiting until 2028.
Yoshida worked at Sony for 38 years, 31 of which were spent at PlayStation. After leaving the company on January 15, 2025, he gave a lengthy interview to GamesBeat.
Among the topics covered was console cycles. The publication notes that during his tenure at PlayStation, the gap between console launches was around five or six years, but it’s getting longer.
The PlayStation 4 was released in November 2013. And while the PlayStation 4 Pro launched in 2016, the PlayStation 5 didn’t get here until November 2020, seven years after its predecessor. For comparison, there were only five years between the original PlayStation (1995) and PS2 (2000). The PS3 launched six years later, in 2006, and the PS4 landed seven years later.
Yoshida notes that if Sony sticks with a seven-year gap, the PlayStation 6 will arrive in 2027. However, he feels that date is a bit too early. “The PS5 generation was slowed down because of manufacturing issues,” Yoshida said, adding that a 2028 date “feels right to me.” He highlighted that based on a leak from Microsoft, the next Xbox console could also launch in 2028.
The former exec also said that the PS5 generation was “slowed” due to manufacturing issues stemming from the pandemic and global chip shortage. When asked about long cycles, the post-pandemic industry slowdown, and all the layoffs, he called it an “overreaction to the COVID situation.”
“Companies invested too much, including ourselves. Then we had to face reality and make adjustments. If you take out the COVID years you’d have smoother growth over the years.”
The PlayStation 5 had its best-ever holiday period in 2024, shipping 9.5 million units – only slightly behind the PlayStation 4’s best quarter in FY2017. The console has now sold over 75 million units, while Xbox Series S/X sales are around 28.3 million and showing little growth.
Last month, a leaker claimed that the chip design for the PlayStation 6 is essentially complete and nearly ready to enter the manufacturing phase. In keeping with Sony’s development cycle, the design completion would likely put the console’s launch date in 2027.
The same leaker previously said that Sony may be working on two SoCs for the PlayStation 6, speculating that one could be for the console and the other for either a new PlayStation handheld or a less-powerful version of the PS6.
Masthead: Robin Edqvist
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