PS6: New console 'top of mind' says Sony boss who doubles down on hardware over streaming

Sony's new president and CEO has doubled down on PlayStation prioritising hardware over streaming and that a new console, expected to be the PS6, is "top of mind".

VGC (Video Games Chronicle) spotted Hideaki Nishino was asked about the future of PlayStation's hardware and if it could be succeeded by cloud gaming in a business segment meeting.

In response, he said: "Cloud streaming is progressing well from a technical standpoint, as we have demonstrated with our offerings, but end-to-end network stability is not in our control.

"Cloud gaming is increasingly providing an additional option for players to access content, but our belief is that the majority of players continue to want to experience gaming through local execution without dependency on network conditions. And PS5 and PS5 Pro have validated this thesis, I believe."

While Xbox is focusing more heavily on its Game Pass subscription model rather than physical console sales to generate revenue, Microsoft has the ability to do this more easily because it can provide a cloud streaming service in-house.

Sony outsources this which is why Nishino said it "is not in our control" and seems to be why PlayStation will continue to prioritise hardware.

While Nishino remained coy on sharing further specific details, he did say new hardware is something that is "top of mind" at PlayStation.

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

Sony's new president and CEO has doubled down on PlayStation's focus being on hardware over cloud streaming services / Sony Interactive Entertainment

According to a report from Reutersin September, the PS6 console will feature an AMD chip, like the PS5 and PS5 Pro, and not one from Intel despite negotiations taking place.

The report said AMD got the contract over Intel in 2022 with backwards compatibility being a key factor and claimed there was a dispute between Intel and Sony over how much money Intel would make from each chip sold.

It added: "Moving from AMD, which made the PlayStation 5 chip, to Intel would have risked backwards compatibility, which was a subject of discussion between Intel and Sony engineers and executives, the sources said.

"Ensuring backward compatibility with prior versions of the PlayStation would have been costly and taken engineering resources.

"Allowing PlayStation users to play games they have purchased for older systems is a feature Sony often includes in a next-generation system."

It's understood Sony is targeting a 2028 release window for the PS6.

At the time of the report, an Intel spokesperson said: "We strongly disagree with this characterisation but are not going to comment about any current or potential customer conversations.

"We have a very healthy customer pipeline across both our product and foundry business, and we are squarely focused on innovating to meet their needs."

Sony and Broadcom did not respond to requests for comment in September and AMD declined to comment. Additional reporting from Reuters.

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