How long until the next generation of Sony’s PlayStation and what can you expect? Here you will find all the information available so far.
Update from October 17, 2025: We have updated the information in the article for you. Among other things, there is new information about the release date, a collaboration between AMD and Sony, and a handheld device for the PS6.
The next generation of PlayStation is in the works. Here we summarize what we know so far about the PS6 (PlayStation 6).
While Sony has revealed very few official details about the PlayStation 6, leaks and industry analysts have revealed some information about the next generation of consoles.
When will the PS6 be released? Release window
There are several conflicting leaks regarding the release period. The latest insider information comes from the well-known and usually reliable leaker Moores Law is Dead.
He claims to have learned that series production of the PlayStation 6 is already scheduled to start in mid to early 2027. This would make a launch in the fall of the same year likely – continuing Sony’s traditional seven-year cycle.
Another rumor from leaker Detective Seeds suggests that the PS6 will not be officially unveiled until 2028. According to him, it is set to be released in late fall to early winter 2029. He claims to have obtained this information from a developer at Sony.
According to a Playstation engineer working on the hardware side of the house; The PS6 will be announced in 2028 and release late fall/ early winter 2029.
Devs kits are estimated to be distributed to developers around Spring 2026 at the same time PS5 pro gets the upgrade to…— Detective Seeds (@DetectiveSeeds) July 5, 2025
Which leak is more reliable? Unfortunately, we cannot make any promises regarding the accuracy of the leaks. At the moment, however, a release in 2027 seems somewhat more likely, as this fits with a statement made by Sony CEO Hideaki Nishino.
In December 2024, he stated to Famitsu that the PS5 would likely remain current for a similar length of time as the PS4. That would be seven years, from 2020 to 2027. However, a lot could change between now and 2024.
PS6: The price – how much will the console cost?
How much will the PS6 cost? Originally, the PS6 was expected to cost between $500 and $700. Since the PS5 Pro already cost $699 or €800, it is likely that we will have to pay at least €800 for the PS6. However, a higher price is also conceivable.
The often reliable leaker Kepler L2 believes that the PS6 could still be cheaper than the Xbox Next, i.e., the next Xbox console. On the one hand, it is supposed to be slightly more powerful (roughly on par with the RTX 5080), but on the other hand, it could also resemble a gaming PC more than a console.
Hardware specifications / Specs
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Official information from Sony and AMD
In a joint presentation, PlayStation chief architect Mark Cerny and AMD vice president Jack Huynh provided the first insight into the basics of the next console generation.
Under the project name “Project Amethyst,” both companies have been working since the end of 2024 on new hardware technologies specifically designed for machine learning and AI-based graphics processes.
Sony and AMD refer to these as “neural arrays,” which are to be used for the first time in the PS6. These connect several GPU processing units to form a shared AI engine. This should make upscaling techniques such as Sony’s PSSR or AMD’s FSR work more efficiently.
Another new feature is the so-called “radiance cores” – specialized processing units that are exclusively responsible for ray tracing calculations. They are designed to relieve the shader cores and enable significantly higher ray tracing performance.
Last but not least, the two talked about “Universal Compression.” This process is designed to dynamically compress not only textures, but all data streams between memory and GPU. This increases the effective bandwidth and allows the hardware to work more efficiently than previous systems.
Leaks and insider knowledge
How much computing power will the PS6 have? According to the fairly reliable leaker Kepler L2, the PS6’s performance could be roughly on par with the Radeon RX 9070 XT. Ray tracing performance is also expected to increase five to tenfold. This also fits in with the above-mentioned statements from AMD and Sony’s Radiance Cores.
How much RAM will the console have? According to Digital Foundry, the PS6 could be equipped with 24 gigabytes of RAM, as Digital Foundry suspects (see video below).
This would be a significant upgrade from the 16 gigabytes of the PS5 and 18 gigabytes of the PS5 Pro. This would mark Sony’s first serious foray into the realm of gaming PCs, which would also be crucial for some graphical features:
- Ray tracing
- Texture quality
- AI-based graphics systems such as upscaling and frame generation
Further unconfirmed information comes from the well-known and previously reliable leaker Moores Law is Dead. He said that the PS6 is aiming for a resolution of 4K at 120 frames per second and 8K at 60 frames per second.
It remains to be seen whether 8K and 60 FPS are really feasible. After all, around four times more pixels have to be calculated than with 4K resolution. From today’s perspective, even 4K at 60 FPS is still difficult, especially in the console sector.
One estimate assumes a potential GPU performance of 30 teraflops from the new AMD chip.
PCIe 6.0 would also be conceivable, as the standard was already defined in 2022. This would theoretically enable up to 256 GB/s. However, the practical value would be lower.
So far, PCIe 6.0 hardware for end customers is still a long way off. And since we don’t know the development status of the PS6, it’s difficult to say which standard will be used. But it will certainly be better than PCIe 4.0.
The situation is similar with the Wi-Fi standard: it’s quite possible that Wi-Fi 7 or even Wi-Fi 8 will be used. Here, too, Wi-Fi 7 is considered a certainty, as the standard is already used in the PS5 Pro.
So if the PS6 isn’t released until 2028, it could even be that Wi-Fi 8 will be installed. Here, too, we don’t know enough about the development status of the PS6 to say anything more specific.
PS6: What new features are coming?
Here, too, our information is very limited at this point. However, we do know from Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President at Sony Interactive Entertainment, that the leap from the PS5 to the PS6 is expected to be at least as significant as that from the PS4 to the PS5.
“Technology is constantly evolving, and I think there’s more we can do.”
As a comparison, he cited the switch from HDD to SSD storage, which significantly reduced loading times and gave developers more freedom.
Will there be backward compatibility? Again, there is no official data from Sony, but we assume that the PS6 will be backward compatible with at least the PS5. The reason for this is a report by Reuters that discusses why Intel will not be supplying CPUs for PlayStation in the future.
The report makes it clear that one of the reasons for this is that it is difficult to ensure backward compatibility with Intel CPUs. In addition, Intel is said to have demanded too much money per CPU.
A dedicated handheld for the PS6?
Some industry observers, such as Moores Law is Dead also speculate that Sony could unveil the PS6 together with a new handheld device. Such a combination would be conceivable, given that portable devices such as the PlayStation Portal and the Xbox handheld have recently regained popularity. However, there are no official indications of this as yet.
Expected features of the PS6
Will there be a drive in the PS6?
According to a report by Insider Gaming, Sony is also planning a removable disc drive for the PS6, as already introduced with the PS5 Pro. This would allow Sony to once again offer two models – a Digital Edition without a drive and a Disc Edition with an optional drive module. This would reduce production costs while offering flexibility for gamers.
This is consistent with statements made by a former Sony manager. He claims that the company cannot afford to do without a disc drive in the PS6. However, the increasingly slim PlayStation consoles tell a different story. After all, the PS5 Pro only allows you to connect an external drive.
New controller in sight?
As our colleagues at GamePro have already noted, it could well be that the PS6 controller will feature hydraulic sticks, or analog sticks. This would allow the sticks to be pressed more finely.
Virtual Reality
It is unclear how the PS6 will handle virtual reality, as the PlayStation VR2 for the PS5 has only just been released in 2023. Sony could continue to support the PSVR2 for the PS6 initially.
Are you looking forward to the PS6? What features are you expecting? Which game series could benefit most from the PS6’s improved hardware? Let us know in the comments!
