Sony’s latest announcements weren’t necessarily about the PlayStation 6 explicitly, but they basically confirm two key details about the device. There has never been a PlayStation home console that hasn’t been a commercial success, and so a PlayStation 6 is inevitable. It’s just a matter of when Sony decides to reveal it, and when it does pull the curtain back, what first details it decides to divulge.
While specific, concrete details about the PS6 are impossible to come by at the time of this writing, it is heavily rumored that the device will be a home console/handheld hybrid ala the Nintendo Switch. Sony itself has alluded to this possibility by suggesting that the PS6 will expand beyond the living room, but it remains to be seen exactly what form the new console will take. While fans wait for an official PlayStation 6 unveiling, Sony has actually revealed two key details about the console in a roundabout sort of way.
PS6 Handheld Console May Be Dockable
A leaker shares additional information about a potential PlayStation 6 handheld console, including the notion that it may have a TV dock.
PS6: What We Now Know
- PS6 will be a digital-only console
- PS6 will most likely release after January 2028
A couple of announcements unrelated to the PlayStation 6 effectively reveal two key details: the console will not use physical media, and it will most likely be releasing in late 2028. Sony recently announced that it was ending physical production of PlayStation discs beginning January 2028, meaning that the PS6 will not use discs. So, regardless if it’s strictly a home console or a hybrid device like the Switch, fans can expect the PS6 to be a digital-only console. The January 2028 timeline also suggests that the PS6 won’t be releasing until 2028, perhaps late 2028, which flies in the face of some estimates that have suggested a 2027 release for Sony’s next-generation console.
What’s That Weapon?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
The biggest challenge facing the PS6 when it launches will be its price tag. Video game hardware is becoming prohibitively expensive thanks to issues like the ongoing RAM crisis, with the PS5 line of consoles more expensive now than they were at launch six years ago. Assuming the PS6 is a step above the PS5 Pro power-wise, chances are it will cost north of $1,000. Unless technology prices experience a major turnaround between now and the PS6’s likely release window of late 2028, it’s going to be the most expensive PlayStation console of all time.
It’s unclear if consumers will be willing to pay such ridiculously high prices for video game consoles. Historically, high-priced video game consoles have been tough sells, and with the PS6 potentially being a digital-only device, it may be an even tougher sell. Throw in the fact that AAA game production takes ages and the PS5 has fewer exclusives than the Switch 2 despite being five years older than it, and it remains to be seen who exactly will be lining up for a PS6.
Sony has made various unpopular decisions lately that may also have a direct impact on the PlayStation 6. The announcement that it is ending physical game production came at the same time it announced the closure of the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita. If Sony is trying to get people to buy a digital-only device, the fact that it is willing to kill off the digital stores of its older consoles, which will eventually lead to it being impossible to re-download purchased content, does not exactly instill confidence.
