Folks hoping to upgrade to the PlayStation 6 are going to must wait just a few more years, at the least, until Sony is able to release it. Rumors regarding next-gen console releases from each Microsoft and Sony have been circulating in increasing frequency throughout 2025, and while there’s been some official information shared by Xbox president Sarah Bond, the newest from Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao hints that we won’t see the PlayStation until closer to 2030.
The Sony exec attended a recent earnings call where he was asked concerning the next console. It was explained that Sony is witnessing a seamless trend of players holding onto their older consoles, particularly the PlayStation 4, which still accounts for nearly half of Sony’s energetic users, and that console launched in 2013. However, the PlayStation 5 is barely 6 years old, and so the exec says, it is barely about halfway through its lifecycle. The next has been transcribed by VGC.
“This yr, in yr 6 because the launch, PS5 has been growing its installed base, and our view is that, in comparison with the traditional console life cycles, and looking out on the PS4 cycle, it appears to be getting longer and longer.
Especially with the PS4, which was launched in 2013, it’s been over a decade since then, but there are numerous energetic users having fun with the console, they usually’re having fun with the opposite consoles [too].”
-Lin Tao, Sony CFO
The chess match between Microsoft and Sony continues as each is exploring recent, or in some cases old, ways to achieve more players. Microsoft’s expansion into the gaming handheld sector is one example, and while recent territory for it, Sony has multiple past products there and is rumored to be working on a tool which could feature PS4-level performance. Meanwhile, the console maker has received criticism for raising prices and recently releasing a revised PS5 model in Europe and the U.S. with less storage (reduced to 825 GB from 1 TB). Along with this, it was just announced that Sony will likely be releasing one other digital-only model in Japan, and while the revealed price appears to be discounted, it’s still higher than the launch price when considering the value hikes since then.
It’s secure to assume that Nintendo, given the recently released Switch 2, has no immediate plans for an additional upcoming hardware release, but eyes have been keen on the opposite two manufacturers attributable to ongoing technological advances by AMD with its APUs. From custom designs to its Halo Strix products, folks are curious about the performance gains for a brand new PlayStation or Xbox, but perhaps the greater query beyond when is how much they are going to cost. Some could say that price is an enormous reason there’s still such a big PS4 energetic player base that Sony is seeing.