PS6 is 'top of mind' for Sony, as next PlayStation generation looms
Sony has talked about the next-generation of PlayStation consoles
👀 Sony has given some indication a new console generation could be coming
🤔 A recent business call with the new president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Hideaki Nishino, revealed that Sony's next console generation is "top of mind"
☁️ In addition, he stated that playing games locally is still the priority for a lot of players, even if cloud gaming is an "additional option"
🆕 Sony Interactive Entertainment's senior vice president of finance and corporate development also noted that the movement to having a regular income from subscriptions reduced the reliance on a new hardware generation
Sony has shared an update on its next console, the PS6, and doubled down on the importance of local games on platforms such as consoles, even if we're seeing more in the cloud gaming sector.
The new president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Hideaki Nishino, was asked in a recent meeting about the future of PlayStation console hardware and stated that the next generation of consoles is "top of mind", and that Sony was committed to "exploring a new and enhanced way for players to engage with our content and services", even if we're still some way off from a new generation of consoles at the moment. (Thanks, VGC.)
Nishino also spoke about cloud gaming and said it is an "additional option for players to access content", but "the majority of players continue to want to experience gaming through local execution without dependency on network conditions.", with the PS5 and PS5 Pro working to prove him right.
Nishino went on to state that he believed the problem with cloud gaming is that the stability of the network is not in Sony's control, as well as that the "higher cost per playtime compared to the traditional console model remains a challenge."
In addition, Sony Interactive Entertainment's senior vice president of finance and corporate development, Lynn Azar was asked about whether Sony expects to see an impact on its profits in the year when the next console launches, stating that they were "exploring what the future of our platform would look like".
Azar went on to note that the large ecosystem of players across several console platforms and PC, as well as the fact that a lot of Sony's money is from "recurring revenues" like PS Plus has reduced the reliance on "traditional cyclicality".
In essence, because Sony has established a model where some money comes from streams such as subscriptions and microtransactions, combined with a large, engaged player base, has reduced the need for a large hardware launch for a bump in profits.
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.