Sony Confirms PlayStation 6 Development with Focus on Local Game Playback

Sony has now confirmed that the PlayStation 6 is officially in development. While there is no release date yet, company leaders have made it clear that the PS6 is one of their main priorities. Hideaki Nishino, the President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said that the PS6 is “top of mind” at the company during a fireside chat on June 13, 2025.

The PlayStation 5 came out on November 19, 2020. It’s now been almost five years since its launch. In that time, the PS5 has sold over 65 million units. According to reports from earlier this year, the PS5 has sold 7% more than the PS4 did during the same time period—its first 52 months on the market, which makes it one of Sony’s most successful consoles so far.

Sony’s latest version of the console, the PS5 Pro, was released in 2024. It effectively improved the graphics and performance compared to the original. Sony has also announced that the PS5 Pro will get another upgrade in 2026, all possible thanks to a partnership with AMD.

Even with strong sales, Sony has faced problems with its games during this generation. The PS5 has not had as many first-party exclusive games as the PS4 did. One reason is that Sony focused a lot on live-service games, which are titles meant to last a long time, with regular updates and online features.

But many of those games didn’t work out, either being canceled before release or failing shortly after launching. For example, Concord, a hero shooter from Firewalk Studios, was shut down and removed just days after it came out. It had been in development for eight years. After that, Sony closed Firewalk Studios.

A fair few other live-service games were also canceled, such as a multiplayer God of War game from Bluepoint Games, another project from Bend Studio, and The Last of Us Online from Naughty Dog, which was canceled in late 2023. Fairgames, a game from Haven Interactive Studios, is still in development, but it has also faced difficulties.

Some of Sony’s biggest studios haven’t released a brand-new game in years. Bluepoint’s last release was Demon’s Souls in 2020, which was a remake. Bend Studio hasn’t released a new game since 2019. Naughty Dog’s next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, is not expected until at least 2027, and that will likely end up being the only title they release for the PS5.

Now, Sony seems to be changing direction. During the June 13 chat, Hideaki Nishino said that while cloud gaming is improving technically, most people still prefer to play games on a console directly. He used the term “local execution” to describe this. He also said that relying on cloud gaming is risky because Sony cannot control internet stability everywhere. He mentioned that cloud play also costs more per hour than playing directly on a console.

So even though Sony sees cloud gaming as a useful option, they plan to keep focusing on the traditional model, playing games that are installed on a console and don’t need the internet to run.

Senior Vice President Lynn Azar also spoke about Sony’s future plans. In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, she explained that Sony has a large community of players across PS4, PS5, and PC, all of which still generate income, mostly through subscriptions and microtransactions. Thus, she said that even after the PS6 is released, Sony will continue to support PS4 and PS5 players.

She also said Sony is working on new ways to let people access its games and services. One possible method is streaming PS6 games through PlayStation Plus to older consoles. This would allow people with PS4 or PS5 systems to still try PS6 games without needing the new hardware.

There’s no official release date for the PS6 yet. But based on court documents filed during Microsoft’s case with the Federal Trade Commission over the Activision Blizzard deal, Sony expects to release the PS6 in 2028. Sony has not confirmed that date, but it’s the only information publicly available so far.

There have also been rumors that Sony is working on a new handheld device. People believe it could work like a portable PS5 or be able to stream PS6 games. That said, Sony has not confirmed this, but since they’ve released handhelds before, like the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, it’s not impossible.

Sony’s leadership also changed recently. After Jim Ryan left in early 2024, Hideaki Nishino and Hermen Hulst became co-CEOs. Now, in 2025, Nishino is the sole CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Hulst still oversees PlayStation Studios but now reports directly to Nishino.

During Hulst’s time as co-CEO, Sony spent a lot of resources on live-service games, most of which didn’t succeed. The failure of Concord, in particular, stands out, especially since it was shut down just after launch. This shift in leadership may explain why Sony now seems more focused on delivering high-quality, single-player games again.

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