If you’ve been holding off on upgrading your PlayStation setup while waiting for the PS6, Sony’s CEO has some sobering news: even the people building the console don’t know when it’s coming. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hiroki Totoki told the Wall Street Journal that the company has still not fixed a launch date for its next-generation PlayStation — and the reasons behind the delay have everything to do with the global chip crunch fuelled by AI demand.
What the Sony CEO Actually Said About PS6
Totoki’s comments build on a statement he made in May 2026, when he told investors: “We have not yet decided on at what timing we will launch the new console, or at what prices.” The latest Wall Street Journal interview, reported by Push Square and Video Games Chronicle, confirms the picture hasn’t changed: there is no internal target date.
Totoki pointed to component costs as the core obstacle. Memory prices — driven sky-high by demand from AI data centres competing with consumer electronics manufacturers for the same chips — are expected to remain elevated through Sony’s FY2027. That makes it genuinely difficult to lock in a console price, let alone a launch timeline. “Considering that importance, we need to take some action. Otherwise, we cannot survive in this landscape,” Totoki was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal piece.
Why Memory Costs Are Delaying the PS6
The global RAM shortage is the elephant in the room for every next-gen console. AI training and inference workloads have created extraordinary demand for high-bandwidth memory, pushing prices to levels that would make a reasonably priced PS6 difficult to deliver. Sony has reportedly been weighing whether to absorb the losses (as it famously did at PS3 launch) or wait until costs normalise — and right now, neither option looks clean.
Bloomberg previously reported that Sony was considering pushing the PS6 back to 2028 or even 2029, well beyond the 2027 window that analysts had initially projected. With Totoki’s fresh comments confirming no date is set even internally, the 2028 window increasingly looks like the more realistic scenario — though nothing is official.
What This Means for Singapore PlayStation Gamers
For Singapore’s PlayStation community — and we are a heavily PlayStation-leaning market — this news has a very practical implication: the PS5 Pro is looking more and more like the smart play for serious players in 2026 and likely 2027. If the PS6 slips past 2027, you’re looking at at least another 18 months of peak PS5 Pro gaming before the next generation arrives.
The other question Singapore gamers are asking is pricing. The PS5 Pro launched at S$989 here — already a significant ask. Analysts tracking component costs have suggested PS6 could be priced higher still when it does arrive, especially if memory and silicon costs don’t fall as fast as Sony needs. With no official specs, name, or price, anything in that space is speculation for now — but it’s speculation worth factoring in when you’re planning your gaming budget.
For those on a standard PS5 (disc or digital edition), the extended wait for PS6 is arguably good news: your console will be supported with major first-party releases for longer than originally expected. Sony has no incentive to wind down PS5 development if the PS6 is still years away.
The Bigger Picture: Sony’s Shift Toward Content Over Hardware
Under Totoki, Sony has been quietly pivoting its PlayStation business toward games, film, and music IP rather than hardware as the core revenue driver. That strategic shift reduces the urgency of a rushed PS6 launch — a console released at a loss to beat a competitor to market is less attractive when your profit centre is game subscriptions, live-service games, and licensing deals. It also means Sony is more willing to wait until the hardware economics make sense, even if that frustrates fans eager for a generational leap.
There’s also a competitive dimension. Rumours suggest Microsoft’s next Xbox console is targeting a similar 2027 window — but with Sony seemingly prepared to wait, a 2027 rush-launch starts to look less likely for both sides. For other PlayStation and Xbox news, keep it here.