Sony and Nintendo need to make their current consoles last as long as possible amid soaring costs that have already prompted PS5 and Switch 2 price rises.
That’s according to former PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, who told The Verge that console companies needed to focus on sustaining their current hardware platforms for “as long as possible.”
While there’s no suggestion that Nintendo plans to launch a Switch 3 anytime soon (Switch 2 only arrived last year!), the company always devotes a chunk of its budget to researching future hardware. And upgrades to the launch Switch 2 model will undoubtedly be considered at some point, similar to the Switch Lite and Switch OLED.
As for Sony, we know that a PlayStation 6 is on the way at some point. Previously, analysts had suggested a 2028 launch seemed likely, though Sony is yet to make any official indication of when PS6 may arrive — and as time goes on, that late 2028 release date feels less and less likely. Indeed, Yoshida has suggested that console makers may now be looking to delay the arrival of next-gen hardware as long as possible.
“Sony and Nintendo have sold enough numbers of their current-generation hardware, so because of the cost of goods, they might be looking [at] pushing back the launch of next gen,” Yoshida said. “I think they should try to keep the current generation as long as possible, because people are very happy using PS5 and Switch 2.
“People have [a] finite budget, and it feels like PC and consoles, the components very specific to these devices have increased their price way more than all the other forms of entertainment,” he continued. “People who have systems like PS5, Switch 2, or PCs – you know, good enough PCs – probably will be happy to play games on them and not necessarily consider replacing [them].”
The key issue here is the skyrocketing cost of computer memory, AKA “RAMageddon”, fuelled in part by the rise of AI datacenters. In short, memory production resources are limited, and much of next year’s production output is already spoken for. Should Sony, for example, want to start manufacturing a new console anytime soon, it may be physically unable to do so in the volume it would like — let alone being able to sell the console for a price that consumers would pay.
As a reminder, the Sony launched its PS5 with a disc drive for $500, while its digital-only counterpart sold for $400. These machines now cost $650 and $600 respectively — price rises of $150 and $200 since 2020. PS5 Pro launched at $700, meanwhile, and now costs $900. It’s hard to see PS6 arriving at much less than $1,000. Switch 2, meanwhile, has risen in price by $50 since launch last year, from $450 to $500.
And then there’s the general lack of desire from both consumers or developers for machines capable of drastically better performance, something Yoshida also noted. The only exception to this is Xbox, which has been more vocal about its push towards a next-gen offering with Project Helix. The difference with Microsoft’s team, though, is it has not sold truckloads of consoles of late.
“I don’t think lots of people are asking for more power — ‘We need more power!’ — or even developers,” Yoshida concluded. “I don’t think developers are asking [for] better hardware! So I think that means that the current generation, Sony and Nintendo are going to do pretty well for many years to come, still.
“Xbox is a team who wants to change the competing landscape, so it’s going to be hard for them, but it’s their time to play. It’s very exciting, what’s going to happen next year?”
