Sony has been working on the PS6 for a while now, but its exact next‑gen plans have remained a mystery. During a recent investor Q&A, Sony revealed a surprising amount about the future of PlayStation, hinting at the PS6 being a portable device, not just a system tied to your TV.

The Q&A, first reported by The Verge, included repeated references to a shift “beyond the living room”. Sony says it wants to break away from the perception that PlayStation gaming is tied to a TV setup, aiming instead for “a seamless experience that can be enjoyed naturally beyond the living room”. In other words, it would appear that Sony does want PlayStation gaming to be portable moving forward, an idea that was likely spurred by the massive success of the Nintendo Switch systems.

Due to rising component costs and the popularity of free‑to‑play gaming lowering average ecosystem spend across the console market, Sony will not be selling the PS6 at a loss. The old model of recouping hardware costs through a cut of software sales is no longer a guarantee. At the same time, Sony noted that cloud‑streaming devices require “minimal memory”, making them far cheaper to produce. With that in mind, the next console generation should look like – expensive ($1000+) native gaming system, accompanied by cheaper cloud streaming devices to maintain accessibility to avoid the entire userbase being priced out of the ecosystem. Sony added that it does not plan to expand its cloud gaming efforts to smartphones and PCs like Xbox is doing, instead preferring to sell a dedicated device like the Portal, where Sony can be in direct control over the quality of the experience.

Sony did also confirm that backwards compatibility will continue, with PS6 expected to support PS4 and PS5 titles. However, with Sony moving away from physical discs, this may only apply to digital libraries. While Microsoft plans to offer disc‑to‑digital conversion for players, there has been nothing to suggest that Sony will provide a similar option.

KitGuru Says: How much are you expecting the PS6 to cost at this point? Would you be happy ‘downgrading' to a cloud-only device due to the increased costs?

PlayStation announcing it is sunsetting production of game discs in 2028 while keeping partners in the dark will go down in history as one of the most controversial decisions ever made by the Japanese giant. Following the initial disbelief, gamers are staging as many protests as they can, signing petitions and canceling PS Plus subscriptions and game pre-orders for titles such as Marvel's Wolverine, but these protests are not going to make the company backtrack, according to Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy firm Kantan Games. However, Sony Group CEO Hiroki Totoki selling a significant number of shares […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-braces-storm-disc-protests-toothless/

Last month, Take-Two and Rockstar Games announced that GTA 6 would not receive a physical release, sending parts of the gaming community into upheaval. As if this wasn't enough, Sony Interactive Entertainment doubled down on the matter, announcing the controversial decision to stop production of new game discs by 2028. Although the gaming community is rightly opposed to these decisions, which are likely to have severe consequences, CI Games founder and CEO Marek Tyminski believes this shift is unavoidable because publishers, both big and small, earn significantly more per digital sale. "GTA6 shipping with no disc feels unfair to studios […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/gta-6-ditching-discs-kill-physical-releases-2027/

PlayStation's decision to end production of game discs in 2028 has quickly become one of the most hated decisions ever made by a gaming company, and not only by those that still purchase retail releases, due to the massive implications this decision will have for the entire gaming industry. Chances of the company backtracking, however, are slim, and not only because factories are being repurposed from making discs, but also because this "spreadsheet" decision has been a long time in the making, according to former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden. “I don't necessarily agree with it but I don't work in […]

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Yesterday's big news put Sony in the spotlight, as the Japanese corporation announced its intention to stop making PlayStation discs starting in January 2028. Later in the day, a rumor from Windows Central suggested Microsoft is gearing up to follow suit with its next-generation Project Helix Xbox, though it remains unconfirmed for the time being. As for Sony, though, it had to deal with significant online backlash, especially once players understood that this meant the PlayStation 6 would inevitably be disc-less-only. However, that's far from the only thing analysts took away from the announcement. For instance, Piers Harding-Rolls, games industry […]

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Yesterday, Sony Interactive Entertainment left gamers speechless by confirming it will no longer release physical discs of PlayStation games starting from January 2028, effectively changing gaming forever, and definitely not for the best. However, beyond adapting to current market conditions, which see the vast majority of sales in digital format, there are a few reasons related to the PlayStation 6 hardware and rising costs that have prompted Sony to make this decision, according to known hardware leaker Kepler_L2. "My BoM estimate was for the digital model anyway," the leaker said on the NeoGAF forums, clarifying that the nearly $ 1,000 bill of materials estimate for the PlayStation […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-6-ditches-discs-hardware-costs-push-sony/

Earlier today, Sony abruptly informed the PlayStation community that no more physical discs would be produced starting January 2028. While not entirely unexpected, this announcement certainly riled up PlayStation fans, and not in a good way, especially as it portends that the PlayStation 6 will only be discless. To clarify, Sony did not say that outright, but it's kind of implied given that they won't make any more discs right around the time the new console is expected to launch. Still, according to Windows Central, Microsoft is leaning toward the same choice: the next-generation Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will also […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/sony-playstation-6-no-disc-microsoft-project-helix-xbox/

Sony has just announced in a brief post on the PlayStation Blog that it won't produce any more discs for PlayStation consoles from January 2028 onward. The post claims this follows consumer trends, with demand for digital media greatly outpacing that of physical discs. As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028.  Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no […]

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/a-1000-playstation-6-no-longer-crazy-sony-significant-losses/

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ps6-bom-nears-1000-delay-unlikely/

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-continue-to-push-live-service-games-teases-playstation-6-handheld/

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-6-wont-be-limited-by-handheld-xbox-series-s-fashion/

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-6s-10x-ray-tracing-fps-gain-3x/

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-6-lite-not-happening-nightmare/

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AMD leaker Kepler_L2 has provided more info on the likely base spec of Sony's PlayStation 6 (PS6) console. The insider has been one of the most prolific sources of information on both the PS6 and its main competitor, Microsoft's next Xbox console codenamed Project Helix, alongside content creator Moore's Law Is Dead. Both consoles will be powered by AMD's RDNA 5 and Zen 6 architectures, after all, and Kepler_L2 has a historically proven track record for AMD leaks. A few days ago, the leaker shared on the NeoGAF board that the bill of materials, essentially the list of how much […]

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/playstation-6-price-699-still-possible/