🤔 Former PlayStation head Shawn Layden suggests Sony create a $300 PS5 instead of an expensive PS6
📈 Rising component costs lead to predictions that the PS6 could cost over $1,000
💪 Layden believes current PS5 hardware is powerful enough and visual leaps between generations are shrinking
🔜 Despite these suggestions, rumors indicate Sony’s PS6 development is already underway with high manufacturing costs
With the PS5 increasing in price from $499.99 to $649.99 since its 2020 release, Sony’s next console – the PS6 – is predicted to cost over $1,000, largely because of the ongoing component and memory shortage.
However, former PlayStation CEO and head of PlayStation Studios Shawn Layden believes releasing a $1,000+ PS6 isn’t the right move, and instead, Sony should focus on creating a cheaper, more affordable PS5.
Speaking on the Trophy Room podcast, Layden said: “What the company needs to do is do what it’s never done, which is, don’t iterate the console. Make it smaller, make it cheaper, do all the things you can around that. The silicon is fine, the OS is fine. It’s more than enough power to build the kind of games all of us want to play.”
Layden also believes that there won’t be a big enough leap from PS5 to PS6, and said “We have enough power in the machine. The innovation needs to come not from making PS6 for $1,200, it’s to make another PS5 for $300. Now that would be true innovation.”
Historically, consoles have always become cheaper after launch and usually undergo a redesign that shrinks the size and makes them more efficient. However, even though Sony release a slimmer, smaller PS5, the price has actually increased.
Microsoft’s consoles have also gone up in price, and even Nintendo has raised the price of Switch 2 by $50 (though it’s ruled out another increase for now).
Layden’s idea will be welcomed by many, though Sony has already stated its plans for PS6 are progressing. Rumors suggest the PlayStation 6 is already costing close to $700 to manufacture when it comes to the memory and storage alone, suggesting a price tag of over $1,000 isn’t off the table.
Up next: PlayStation Portal Player revealed: new PS5 handheld coming only to Japan for now
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.