- Sony plans to stop physical game production by January 2028
- Analysts say the announcement telegraphs that the PS6 will arrive in 2028
- It is predicted that the console will not have a disc drive
Following Sony’s announcement that it will stop the production of physical games within the next two years, analysts have determined that the next generation of the PS6 console will launch in 2028.
According to Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls, PlayStation’s all-digital plan “telegraphs a lot of information about Sony’s plans for its next-generation console, the PlayStation 6,” including a release window.
“We believe this almost certainly guarantees that the PS6 will not arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” he predicted, adding that “the current expectation is that the console will launch in late 2028.”
Harding-Rolls also suggests that the standard version of the PS6 “at least” won’t have a physical media disc drive because Sony will be looking for ways to reduce the cost of its next-generation hardware, and “that’s an easy win.”
“It is possible that an add-on disc drive could be made available to play older PS4 and PS5 games on disc,” the analyst added.
“Removing the drive will upset some players who don’t want to pay for an add-on disc drive (if available) and who want to access their game collections on disc. It may be too impractical or too complex, but some process of transferring older physical media to a digital license could alleviate some of these issues.”
Whether the PS6 will be a console like the PS5 is yet to be seen; However, recent comments from Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino seem to suggest that the next generation PlayStation console could be a handheld.
Nishino said: “For the next-generation platform, rather than simply serving as an alternative to PCs, we aim to deliver value unique to PlayStation,” which will include “technological advances but also an expansion of usage styles, enabling a seamless experience that can be enjoyed naturally outside the living room.”
New reports have claimed that Microsoft is also moving away from physical media.
The company is said to be testing a disc-to-digital feature for existing consoles and may release a next-generation Project Helix console without a disc drive.
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