THE CRUNCH
Sony says development of its next-generation console, not yet officially named as the PlayStation 6, is "progressing as scheduled". CFO Lin Tao made the comments during the company's quarterly financial results on Thursday 5 November, adding that Sony will "make solid progress in preparing for the next-generation platform" over the coming business year, which starts in April 2027.
The results also showed a strong quarter for the current generation. Sony sold 2.6 million PS5 consoles in the three months to the end of September, bringing lifetime sales to 97.9 million. Monthly active users hit 127 million in September, a record for that month, and Sony revised its forecasts for gaming sales and operating income upward, crediting third-party games, first-party titles and cost improvements.
Memory costs have been a looming concern for next-gen hardware, with earlier reports suggesting the PS6's memory and storage alone could cost more than $680. Tao said Sony has offset rising memory costs through cost reductions and price increases, and that it has already aligned with suppliers on the quantity of memory needed for its projected unit sales next business year. Sony expects hardware profitability to stay on par with the previous fiscal year.
There is still no release date. CEO Hiroki Totoki said earlier this year that one had yet to be decided, and analyst David Gibson of MST Financial has argued the PS6's arrival is likely to be delayed longer than many expect, with Sony extending the PS5's lifecycle. Some analysts have suggested 2028. Sony says the new platform will be announced "at an appropriate time in the future".