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An insider has claimed Sony’s PlayStation 6 will not be delayed by the worldwide RAM shortage, as they outline some of its capabilities.
The RAM shortage has already affected the price and rollout of hardware like Valve’s Steam Machine, but there’s a big question around whether it will impact the next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft.
Over recent months, reports have claimed Sony is considering pushing back the launch of the PlayStation 6 to ‘2028 or even 2029’. If it’s the latter, that would mean the PlayStation 5, which launched in 2020, would go nine years on the market without a successor.
Sony has only talked about its next gen plans in vague terms, without an explicit mention of a launch window, but there’s typically been a seven year gap between consoles – so the natural assumption is that the PlayStation 6 was originally planned for 2027.
While many suggest a delay is on the cards, insider Moore’s Law Is Dead has claimed the console is still on track to launch in late 2027, despite the memory shortage.
The YouTuber, who has been accurate in the past when it comes to both PS5 Pro and Nintendo Switch 2 specifications, claimed he has seen contract ‘documents’ between Sony and TMSC for the PlayStation 6, the latter of which is manufacturing the console’s chip.
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He claims ‘Q2 of 2027’ is when ‘they’re meant to start manufacturing PlayStation 6’s on the TSMC 3nm node’, based on these documents. Additionally, he says if they were to pull that contract, it would cost them more money than to pay the inflated RAM costs.
‘This thing was designed years ago,’ he says. ‘This thing was set in stone years ago, and it costs tens of millions of dollars. It costs them more money to delay it than it does to pay extra for RAM.’
He added: ‘The exact same thing happened in 2020, and they did not delay the PlayStation 5, because it would have cost them far more to delay it than to just stay the course and eat some cost.’
Additionally, while he believes the PlayStation 6 will launch in late 2027, he clarifies that he ‘could see it’ being pushed back to early 2028, adding: ‘But I don’t really see a delay to 2029 at all.’
Elsewhere in the same video, the YouTuber reiterates the supposed specifications for the PlayStation 6, before claiming it will be able to ‘fully saturate’ 4K and 120fps with ray tracing, based on what he knows about the console’s innards.
It’s worth taking all of this with a pinch of salt, as the extent and duration of the current memory crisis is still unknown at this point – so if it does escalate, there’s a chance Sony could alter its plans. The CEO of Phison recently warned the shortage could ‘last until 2030, or even for another 10 years’.
There are indications that 2027 could be the key battleground year for the next gen race though. Microsoft recently announced its next Xbox is codenamed Project Helix, and while it is only a codename, the fact they’re confirming details about it suggests it’s coming sooner rather than later.
Microsoft is under more pressure to release a new console, in light of the failure of the Xbox Series X/S, but Sony probably won’t want to leave things hanging for too long. In fact, the latter’s reported shift away from PC suggests it is already adjusting its strategy to potentially prepare for an exclusive-focused new generation.
The obvious problem with choosing not to delay the PlayStation 6, is that the natural way to compensate for the increased manufacturing costs is to increase the price to consumers. Sony hasn’t said anything about the cost of the PlayStation 6 yet but Microsoft has already characterised Project Helix as a ‘very premium, very high-end curated experience.’
Microsoft has teamed up with AMD on the next Xbox (Microsoft/AMD)
