PS4 Production Was Never Planned to End in 2021 According to Sony

Earlier this month, a new report came about stating that Sony would be increasing the number of PlayStation 4 units it was producing in 2022 as a way to offset continuing shortages of the PlayStation 5. In addition, it claimed that Sony had originally planned to stop production as a whole for the PS4 late last year. When this news came about, many fans were a bit puzzled, especially given how Sony has handled cross-generation leaps in the past. Now, Sony itself has seemingly debunked this report thanks to a new statement that has come about. 

In a quote given to Japanese publication Nlab, a spokesperson from Sony revealed that it was never in the company's plans to end production of the PlayStation 4 in 2021. Furthermore, it has also not increased the number of PS4 consoles that will be made over the course of 2022 as a means of offsetting the PS5 shortages. "There was no plan to end production of PS4 at the end of last year (2021)," the representative from Sony said in a translated statement. "The PS4 is one of the best-selling game consoles for SIE, and like the hardware of the past, it produces and sells both old and new hardware in parallel during the transition period of the generation."

As Sony itself made clear here, it has been a common trend in the past for the company to continue to sell last-gen hardware for a long period of time after a new console releases. For instance, the PlayStation 3 didn't officially get discontinued until 2016, which was nearly three years after the launch of the PlayStation 4. So while production of the PS4 will surely come to an end at some point down the road due to the prominence of the PS5, it's still much too early for Sony to do so, especially with titles like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West still coming to PS4 this year. 

When can you see Sony officially ending the life cycle of the PS4? And given the console's success, do you think that new units will continue to be produced for a longer period of time than normal? Let me know either down in the comments section or you can message me on social media at @MooreMan12.