PS6: Release Date and All We Know 

The PS5 was just released, and it isn’t even readily available in the market, yet we are already dreaming about how epic the PS6 would be. Hey, there is nothing wrong with looking towards the future and guesstimating the PlayStation 6 release date, after all, Sony is already doing this. The Japanese company has already trademarked PS6, and PS7 all the way up to PS10, so we are just taking one wishful thinking step here. 

To be fair, it is going to be a long time before PS6 releases. We are talking about at least 5-6 more years of wait, but this won’t stop us from speculation. Of course, we only have the history and a few comments from Sony to go on right now, they just released their biggest console and would be focusing on it for the time being. 

The PS6 release date would be around 2026 at least. The PS6 price would be around $500-$600 dollars as well, that is if we don’t see another shortage of electronic chips. 

PS6 Release Date – When Is It Coming?

The PS5 was only released in November 2020, so it’s going to be a while till Sony even considers releasing the PS6. Usually, Sony consoles are released around six to seven years apart, and judging by the market trends, the same gap will be between PS5 and PS6. 

These are all guesstimates, of course, the official release date is far from being disclosed. Sony usually tends to keep the consoles under wraps for as long as possible. We didn’t see any credible leaks about the PS5 until it was super close to being revealed by Sony itself.

We can safely assume the next PlayStation console will release around 2026 or at least during the holidays of 2027.

PlayStation Trademarks

Sony has been proactive with its trademarks lately, the Japanese giant has filed trademarks for PS6, PS7, PS8, PS9, and PS10 in Japan. This might be a move to safeguard the console names for the future.

An interesting point to note here is that the company trademarked “PS” in 2000 while the console was released 6 years prior in 1994.

There was just a small one-year gap between the trademark of “PS2” (1999) and its release in 2000.

Similarly, there was a year-long gap between “PS3” being trademarked in 2005 and its release in 2006.

Both “PS4” and “PS5” were trademarked in 2006 and released in 2013 and 2020 respectively.

There isn’t a clear pattern here to make a prediction, however, all consoles might have a 7-year gap between releases. There will probably be Pro versions of the consoles mid-cycle as well.

What’s Sony’s Official Stance

Giving an interview with Game Informer, Masayasu Ito, Sony’s Executive VP of Hardware Engineering said, “Indeed, in the past, the cycle for a new platform was seven to 10 years, but in view of the very rapid development and evolution of technology, it’s really a six to seven-year platform cycle,”

He also added, “Then we cannot fully catch up with the rapid development of the technology, therefore our thinking is that as far as a platform is concerned for the PS5, it’s a cycle of maybe six to seven years.

It’s evident from his comments that Sony is looking to replicate the PS4’s lifecycle with the PlayStation 5 as well. This brings us to…

PS5 Variants 

We can look forward to hardware revisions by Sony in a couple of years. Just like PS4 got the PS4 Slim and PS4 PRO, we can see Sony launching their counterparts for this generation as well. 

The PS5 Slim would have the same hardware, just shrunken down into a smaller form factor. A lot of people aren’t happy with the relatively giant PS5, and we can see the company trying to win them over in 2 years or so. 

The PS5 Pro would have a mid-cycle console hardware update. While the base PS5 did promise us 4K resolution gaming at 60 frames per second, the reality is a bit disappointing. The box even had 8K written on it, sure the console can output 8K video, but you won’t be playing any AAA games at that resolution. The PS5 Pro would try to at least give us a smoother experience with its updated internals. 

Our PS6 Wishlist

The PS5 is an excellent console, however, there are certain things we wish to see improved or expanded upon. The PS5 already comes with much-needed critical improvements but technology moves fast and there are a couple of incredible technologies already being enjoyed by the PC community. Adding a few of those in the next console would bring it to a whole another level, technologies such as…

DLSS

DLSS stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling. It basically renders frames at a lower resolution and then upscales them to look sharp using deep learning AI. For example, a game would render the frame at 1080p resolution and then upscale it to 4K. One might think that the AI scaled resolution wouldn’t look sharp enough, but surprisingly during our testing, we didn’t find that big of a difference. Actually, there is hardly any discernable difference from a normal viewing distance when compared side by side.

PlayStation usually goes with AMD SoCs and the PS5 is no different. Thankfully, AMD has their own version of this tech called FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and it’s available on the PS5 as well. We haven’t seen it being implemented on games yet but that could change soon. We want PS6 to have excellent DLSS or FSR support right out of the gate and we want developers to take full advantage of it.

Ray Tracing

Ray Tracing is resource-hungry and can tank the framerates of even the beefiest of the PCs. The PS5 is capable of having ray tracing but it is either partially implemented, sacrifices frame rates, or reduces resolution.

The PS6 would be a powerhouse and should be able to handle excellent ray tracing effects without lowering the resolution or frame rates. Ray tracing at 4K and 60 frames per second is the dream here.

Better Frame Rates

The PS5 offers 120 FPS gaming on select games. Games like Call of Duty can run at an increased rate of 120 frames per second but they achieve that by sacrificing resolution and graphical fidelity. The promise of 4K at 60 FPS in all games seems like a distant memory now, a promise made by the PS5 marketing itself.

While technically it is possible to achieve that on some games, even Sony’s first-party games aren’t hitting those frames at 4K resolution. Games like Returnal (excellent rogue-like) and Horizon Forbidden West (amazing action adventure with a beautiful open world) look phenomenal but don’t run at full 4K resolution and 60FPS.

We hope that the PS6 with its better TFLOPs performance would be able to not only hit higher frame rights but also at a better resolution. PC gamers have already moved to 240 Hz monitors and their mighty GPUs are hitting 240 FPS in competitive games like CS: Go and Rainbow 6: Siege. That is a clear advantage and should be widely available for console players as well.

Sony included support for Variable Refresh Rate in 2022, that’s a long time to wait for a critical new feature that was available on day one on the Xbox Series consoles. Thankfully, it is here and works great. The PS6 should get it on launch as well.

Cloud Gaming

Cloud Gaming seems to be the future. it’s not here yet but in a few years, we can see the internet getting better and faster. The Xbox Game Pass Ultimate combined with XCloud gaming is already proving it to be a playable and enjoyable experience. Sony revamping their PS Plus service also indicates a shift towards cloud gaming, we’d love to see the service expand and prosper.

That being said, the PS6 could get a lighter and less costly cloud gaming only version. The PS6 Cloud, as it wouldn’t be called, should be an easy gaming access point for someone just looking to play games sporadically. Or if you don’t have the space or the money to spare for a large console, playing Sony’s excellent exclusives on the go would be great.

PS6: What Should It Do 

• Be Smaller – The PS5 is huge, it’s almost as tall as my mini PC. It is the biggest console in recent memory, too. Xbox Series X managed to handle powerful internals with their smaller-sized box, Sony should look towards doing the same. Not everyone has the space or shelves big enough to handle the mighty PS4. Personally, I cannot travel with the PS5 easily, especially if I’m using public transport, the PS6 should at least be easy enough to carry to your friend’s place. 
• More Storage – We love how fast the PS5 SSD storage is. It really is a game-changer in terms of loading games. So the PS6 should expand on that and include either a large storage space right off the bat or have affordable expandable internal storage available at launch. We’ll surely see the prices of NVMe SSDs (the storage PS5 uses) drop as they become more common, so we might have an adorable time expanding storage. Games are only going to get bigger, and we want the PS6 to be ready. 

• Bluetooth – It’s the future, and we still don’t have native Bluetooth support in the console. We are still plugging in a dongle on our consoles to have a good audio experience. I’m not even talking about third-party headsets, Sony’s own Pulse 3D headset comes with a dongle that takes up a precious USB port. PS6 should come with built-in Bluetooth and seamless connectivity with even third-party earphones. 

• Back Padels – Pedals on the back of the controller would be a big win for Sony. They not only provide customization options but also add another layer of accessibility. Being able to reload your guns as you pan the camera and jump? That’s just keyboard and mouse level of control available on consoles. It’s another part that can fail on the controller and will make the controller a bit price but it’s the natural progression and would be a beloved move.

• Wireless Charging – Phones have had wireless charging for a while now, what’s stopping PlayStation controllers from having the same? The price might be a bit higher, but so will the convenience. PlayStation’s controllers already use internal batteries, so it shouldn’t be a problem to implement wireless charging on PS6 controllers. 

Better UI Experience – Sony improved the UI for the PS5, but it still has a long way to go. The PS6 should at least make the PlayStation Store easier to browse on the console. While they improved upon the responsiveness of the UI, they left out customization from the interface altogether. You cannot set your own wallpapers, set themes, change icons, or even create folders on the PS5. PS6 should rectify all of these missteps and offer better UI with customization options. 

PSVR2 The Future?

PSVR2 is just around the corner and is promising to be one epic upgrade. The resolution bump alone is enough to excite any VR fan but Sony is going all in and including some industry-leading upgrades to their VR headset.

With the popularity of Meta and dedicated AAA VR-based games, we are sure that the PSVR2 will become the next big thing. Of course, we are looking forward to the 17th Elder Scrolls V” Skyrim release for PSVR2 as well. My personal wishlist has Half-Life: Alyx on the top, if Sony and Valve can make that happen, PSVR2 is going to be an essential purchase for any VR fan with a Sony console.

Before PS6 we might see PSVR2 getting bundled with PS5 or PS5 Pro down the road. Dedicated VR bundles with 2-3 top-of-the-line VR offerings would be a nice gift come Holidays. Horizon Call of the Mountain seems to be a big-budget Sony-style blockbuster title for PSVR2. The Studio Firesprite is already working on another Horror game, possibly a VR title as well. Bundle these two games with PSVR2 and a console and we have a winning combination.

PS6 Release Date is Far 

There is a lot to look forward to as a PlayStation fan, God of War Ragnarok is releasing soon and PSVR2 seems to be a genuine update.  

It will be a long while until we see Sony’s next console. So if you are holding out on getting yourself a PS5 in hope that the next generation will be here in a year or two, don’t. It is always fun to imagine where the gaming world would go, especially what technologies will shape the future. These days Ray Tracing and Unreal Engine are the talks of the town, who knows what new technical wizardry will be common when the PlayStation 6 releases.