Sony on next-gen PS6: 'The future of our platform is constantly top of mind'

Sony has no plans to replace its PlayStation console lineup with cloud gaming any time soon, and says a next-gen PlayStation 6 console is in development.

Sony on next-gen PS6: 'The future of our platform is constantly top of mind'
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Senior Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: Sony confirms development of the next-generation PlayStation console, emphasizing that most players prefer local gameplay over cloud gaming due to network and cost challenges. Despite advances in cloud streaming, Sony remains committed to consoles, leveraging a strong ecosystem across PS4 and PS5 generations to drive future platform innovation.

Sony confirms its working on a next-generation PlayStation console as the company says most players still aren't interested in depending solely on the cloud.

Sony on next-gen PS6: 'The future of our platform is constantly top of mind' 61
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PlayStation consoles are the top revenue-generating video games hardware on the market, so it's no surprise Sony would want to keep the ball rolling with continued system launches. Even in the era of cloud gaming and supercharged network throughput, Sony isn't ready to stop making consoles just yet and rely solely on its decade-old cloud efforts.

In a recent fireside chat taped during Sony's 2025 corporate business strategy meeting, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino shared the company's view on PlayStation consoles while also teasing the next-gen PS6 in the process.

Below is a quick transcription of what Nishino said during the exchange:

Q: With cloud gaming more of a viable option than ever before, do we need a next-generation console? Is SIE developing one?

Hideaki Nishino:

Great question. We have been in cloud gaming for over the last 11 years. We deployed cloud gaming to PS3, PS4, and PS5 generations, and we are really proud of the quality we have been delivering. We have streaming via PS Plus Premium, and we have a cloud streaming beta on PlayStation Portal.

However, the business model for cloud gaming must be sustainable for longer-term growth. Cloud gaming is progressing well from a technical standpoint as we have demonstrated with these offerings, but end-to-end network stability is not in our control.

The higher cost of our playtime compared to the traditional console model remains a challenge.

Cloud gaming is increasingly providing an additional way for players to access content, but our belief is that the majority of players continue to want to play the gaming experience through local execution without dependency on network conditions.

And PS5 and PS5 Pro have validated this thesis, I believe.

Our console business has evolved into a multi-faceted platform, and we now have a large ecosystem of highly engaged players across both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 generations, therefore there's huge interest in our next-generation console strategy.

While we cannot share further details at this stage, the future of the platform is top of mind. We are committed to exploring a new and enhanced way for players to engage with our content and services.