Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden said he believes innovation at Sony should not come “from making a PS6 for $1,200” but from making “another PS5 for $300.” As technology costs soar and rumors about expensive gaming consoles swirl, the former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America took time on The Trophy Room podcast to encourage the PlayStation maker to consider an unexpected, cheaper course of action. Noting how previous hardware leaps have generally offered clearly identifiable innovative qualities from generation to generation, he touched on why the PlayStation 6 simply going for “more ray tracing and more teraflops” might not be the best idea. As Layden said, “I think we have enough power in the machine.” $300,” he added. “Now, that would be a real innovation. This is the first platform I have seen that has gone up in price over time. I mean, PS2, at the end of the PS2 era, was $99. You could buy a PS2 for $99.” The PS5 launched almost exactly six years ago with two main options for gamers to choose from: a basic version with a disc drive for $499 and a Digital Edition for $399. What seemed like relatively fair prices in 2020 now look almost like a bargain thanks to a series of price increases in recent years. Today, buying a basic PS5 directly from PlayStation costs $649, a Digital Edition costs $599, and a Pro costs a whopping $899 (up $200 from its reveal price). Things get even worse when you look at retailers like GameStop. Sony has blamed “continued pressures on the global economic landscape,” but that has done little to ease the pain for the average buyer. versus the original console “I think if I were in your shoes, that’s what I would be doing. “I would be trying to find a way to reduce the cost of the 5,” he added. Later, he continued: “I think it’s a tough place to be in right now. What the company needs to do is do what it has never done, that is, not iterate the console. Make it smaller, make it cheaper, do everything you can about it, but the silicon is fine, the operating system is fine. That’s more than enough power to create the kind of games we all want to play.” In May, Sony said it was still trying to decide when its next console should launch. This followed a report in February that said the company was considering releasing the device as late as 2028, or even 2029, following previous launch expectations for 2027. For now, however, we know very little about the PS6. As PlayStation continues to fight backlash against its decision to eliminate physical discs, a leaker has said that the RAM and storage for the console alone could cost up to $680. Meanwhile, a patent from October suggested that Sony might be considering tapping into its own take on frame generation. How much the PS6 will cost when all is said and done is a mystery, but the future doesn’t look particularly bright. Michael Cripe is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s best known for his work on sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
