The PlayStation 5 is about to wrap up its sixth year and it’s getting the job done just fine. I don’t feel the need to upgrade or chase performance improvements offered by a the PS5 Pro, especially amid skyrocketing hardware prices. Ex-PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida thinks a lot of players are probably in a similar boat. His suggestion to Sony? Make the PS5 console generation last as long as it can.
“While Sony and Nintendo have sold enough numbers of current-generation hardware, because of the cost of goods, they might be looking [at] pushing back the launch of next gen,” he suggested in a recent interview with The Verge. “I think they should try to keep the current generation as long as possible because I think people are very happy using PS5 and Switch 2.”
He continued:
People have finite budget, and it feels like PC and consoles, the components very specific to these devices have increased the price way more than all the other forms of entertainment. People who have systems like PS5, Switch 2 or good enough PCs, probably will be happy to play games on them, and not necessarily consider replacing them…
I don’t think lots of people are asking for “more power, we need more power.” Or even developers. I don’t think developers are asking [for] better hardware like that. So, I think, that means the current generation, Sony and Nintendo, are going to do pretty well for many years to come.
People with old PS2s had to worry about the laser giving out. Limited storage quickly became an issue on the PS3. And the PS4 sounded like an air tunnel by the time the PS5 launched. But with the PS5, there’s no similar urgency to upgrade, especially if the next wave of machines costs as much as $1,000. If that ends up being the case, Yoshida offered the possibility that companies like Sony will have to start doing contract financing like people do for smartphones.
“If it’s over $1,000 hardware price, and it basically comes with the services, maybe $300 a year or $400 a year,” he said. “A $50 a month subscription, how’s that?”
It sounds like a lot of money. The test for any new hardware will be whether it can provide features that get players excited about upgrading and not just next-gen exclusives that try to bully them off of the older platform. And if Nintendo has proven anything with the original Switch, it’s that you can get remarkable games out of relatively weak hardware. And as everyone’s backlog on existing consoles continues to grow, it’s hard to see anyone but the most diehard sickos rushing out to buy a PS6 at launch.