Sony may delay the PS6 until as late as 2029, and PlayStation power users are partying all over social media.
Maybe I’m increasingly out of touch, but honestly I find it a bemusing state of affairs.
Should this all come to pass, it would make the PS5 era the longest PlayStation generation by some margin. And yet, instead of disappointment, I feel like many fans seem delighted. Some are even arguing the organisation should wait until 2030 or beyond!
What is this all about?
Sure, there’s an increasing sentiment that PS5 hasn’t lived up to expectations. No one can deny dev cycles are longer than ever and cross-gen releases have undoubtedly blurred the generational divides. I totally get it – the leaps aren’t as dramatic as they once were, like from the PS1 to the PS2.
But let’s not rewrite history here. I challenge you to dig out your crusty old PS4 and spend one full week with creaky 30fps games and glacial loading times. The generational jump still exists – it’s just evolutionary rather than revolutionary at this point in time.
Look, even I’ll admit we’ve hit diminishing returns. Console upgrades more closely resemble smartphones these days: they’re becoming more iterative and a lot less transformative overall. But iteration doesn’t mean meaningless. Smaller, quieter, more powerful hardware absolutely still has its place in the market.
More importantly, here’s the part I really struggle to understand: if you don’t want a PS6 at launch, then you’re not inclined to buy one.
In this era of cross-gen software, you’ll be able to sit comfortably on your PS5 for years. If the PS6 launches in 2027 and you’re not ready until 2030, then you won’t be forced to act until you want to. The upgrade path is completely optional – it always has been.
So, why champion a supposed delay?
Bloomberg’s reporting suggests any setback would be considered a “major upset” internally, driven by AI-induced RAM scarcity – not some supposed shift away from generational progress.
This doesn’t sound like an instance of Sony responding to robust consumer sentiment – it’s seemingly acting out of necessity, reacting to market conditions it simply can’t control.
And it’s not like any of this is going to correct the criticisms aimed at the PS5: the platform holder’s still going to port its first-party exclusives to the PC, and Naughty Dog’s still going to take anywhere up to a half-decade to ship a new game.
But it’s all going to come at the cost of lost momentum, because it’s hard to imagine the PS5 being anything but long in the tooth several years from now.
New generations – iterative or not – reset the conversation and spark enthusiasm. They push developers forward, even if it’s only gradual. And without that cadence, I think there’s a very real risk of the ecosystem drifting into stagnation.
Look, if we’re all still playing on our launch PS5s in 2029, I’ll deal with it. But I find the celebration, particularly from PlayStation power users, to be a bit baffling. I don’t think an industry built on forward momentum should necessarily be cheering standing still.
Are you one of those celebrating the speculation about a PS6 delay? What is the reason behind your enthusiasm, and how do you think it’s going to benefit PlayStation as a whole? Let us know in the comments section below.
