New PlayStation Sales Announcement Could Hint At A PS6 Delay

The PlayStation 5 has been a definite hit for Sony, with the console outlasting the typical lifespan for the home market and becoming the definitive modern-gen console. While Nintendo, Xbox, and Steam have carved their own niches out of the market, the PS5 has dominated the market. That’s probably one of the key reasons Sony seems to have little need to push out the PS6, although rumors and speculation are rampant that the next iteration of the brand will hit the market in the next few years.

That might be wishful thinking on the part of fans, though, especially after the company’s recent announcement about their sales priorities. It seems like Sony is moving away from just trying to move the consoles, instead shifting focus to keeping players engaged with the consoles that they’ve already got. It’s an interesting revelation about the company’s current focus and could be seen as an admission that new console sales aren’t the main focus of the publisher.

Sony Wants To Make Money Off Established Players Instead Of Winning New Ones Over

Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki told the Wall Street Journal in a recent interview that the company is pleased with the 125 million users currently registered with PS Plus. In fact, the business model for PlayStation going forward seems to be getting those players to invest in new games, subscriptions, or features. This might have something to do with the recent price hikes the PS5 has experienced as a result of the component drought across the tech industry. The Switch 2 has had to contend with the challenges of the current tech shortages at launch, while Sony was firmly established in households around the world before that crunch began to impact sales.

As Totoki explained, “We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of a PS console. That means that we do not need to aggressively sell the console today.” This makes sense on a couple of levels, especially when one considers how much money Sony is making off of games it publishes now that it’s increasingly moved away from physical releases that would require splitting profits with brick-and-mortar stores. This is likely a key factor in their recent decision-making, especially as the console has shown to be capable of amazing graphics in games like GTA VI that nullify the desire among many gamers for the next-gen consoles.

Sony’s Plan Requires Them To Be Careful Going Forward

This all suggests that Sony isn’t really in a hurry to put out the PS6. If they were, they’d already be trying to garner excitement for the console and teasing its full potential instead of keeping their focus on the current model and its slate of games. With tech limitations and shortages increasing the hypothetical price of any console released going forward, Sony seems to have decided the time is right to refine the PS6 design but wait to sell it until absolutely necessary or until the marketplace has corrected itself enough for prices to go down.

Otherwise, the company risks investing in consoles that are simply too expensive to be successful right out of the gate. In an industry where slow-burn success can sometimes be seen as a failure, Sony can’t risk their next big console release being slowed down. Instead, Sony just needs to keep selling to its current player base, and keeping their attention with free releases. Given the number of active users on the service, it seems reasonable to think that it should be fine.

On the one hand, this is likely a canny move on Sony’s part. The PS5 is the current standard-bearer for high-octane home consoles, so extending that dominance as long as possible makes sense. Maintaining those PS Plus accounts brings in billions of dollars every month, with additional goodies and games potentially convincing players to throw down more on a monthly basis. However, that reliance on the subscription model could already be facing its first great challenge.

In light of recent unpopular decisions made by the company, PlayStation players around the world are poised to take part in a strike against PS Plus to draw the company’s attention to the current state of play. If the strike is a successful one, then it could give players more incentive to pause or even discontinue their PS Plus accounts, undercutting Sony’s intentions for the future. If Sony is going to be looking at active player engagement as the main source of revenue as opposed to console sales, then they need to be more mindful of player frustrations and desires. Failing to do so could mess with their new strategy and seriously impact the company. Sony may not be in a hurry to release the PS6, but that doesn’t mean they can rest on their laurels with the PS5.