Sony’s next PlayStation console still doesn’t have a launch date, a price, or even an official name. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal reported around August 18, 2026, Sony Group President and CEO Hiroki Totoki said the console — widely referred to as the PS6, though Sony has not confirmed that name — “doesn’t even have an internal release date” yet. It isn’t a new admission: Totoki said essentially the same thing at Sony’s earnings call back in May, when he told investors the company had “not yet decided on at what timing we will launch the new console, or at what prices.”
Key facts
- No release date, price, or official name has been confirmed for Sony’s next PlayStation console.
- CEO Hiroki Totoki blamed a global memory-chip shortage, in a Wall Street Journal interview reported around August 18, 2026.
- Elevated memory-chip prices are expected to last through Sony’s 2027 fiscal year.
- The PlayStation ecosystem includes about 93 million households and 125 million monthly active users as of June 30, 2026.
- Sony has confirmed it will end physical disc production for new PlayStation games starting January 2028.
- Project Amethyst, a Sony-AMD chip research partnership, was announced in October 2025.
- Rumored prices for the next console range from about $900 to over $1,000 — none confirmed by Sony.
Why Sony says it can’t commit yet
Totoki pointed to one main culprit: a global shortage of high-speed memory chips, the RAM that goes into every modern console, phone and AI server. Demand from AI data centers has soaked up so much memory-chip production that prices are expected to stay elevated through Sony’s 2027 fiscal year, he said. “Considering that importance, we need to take some action,” Totoki said. “Otherwise, we cannot survive in this landscape.” Totoki was referring to the memory-chip shortage, not the console market broadly. He did not spell out what that action would be, and Sony has not detailed a specific plan beyond watching the memory market.
Sony is already feeling the pinch on its current hardware. Notebookcheck reported that Sony raised the PS5 disc edition from $600 to $650 and the digital edition from $500 to $600. The stakes are sizable: Sony says the PlayStation ecosystem included roughly 93 million households and 125 million monthly active users as of June 30, 2026. Totoki even called the shortage’s timing “lucky” for Sony. His reasoning: the PS5 is already in the latter half of its life cycle, so a shortage now gives Sony more room to wait it out before it has to commit to next-generation hardware and pricing.
What Sony has actually confirmed — and what it hasn’t
Beyond the memory shortage, there’s very little Sony has locked down. As of August 21, 2026, none of that has changed. One thing Sony has confirmed: it will stop manufacturing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028, an announcement made on the PlayStation Blog back in July. That date is real, but Sony has not said it’s tied to the next console’s launch, and it doesn’t tell readers whether the still-unnamed console itself will ship with or without a disc drive.
Separate reports also highlighted a June Sony patent for a redesigned cooling and heat-pipe system and a July Sony patent application for a modular controller with a detachable touchscreen; neither has been confirmed by Sony as a PS6 feature. Sony has also confirmed Project Amethyst, a Sony-AMD co-engineering research partnership covering graphics and machine-learning architecture intended to underpin the next PlayStation console, announced in October 2025. Sony hasn’t tied any specific chip or performance figure to that work.
Everything else circulating online right now comes from leakers and industry analysts, not from Sony:
- A supposed internal codename, “Orion”
- Specific chip specs: an AMD processor with a next-generation CPU and graphics core
- Performance claims versus the PS5
- Rumored memory capacity
- A possible handheld companion device
- Prices ranging from around $900 to over $1,000
None of it has been confirmed by the company. Even leak-community figures have urged caution: one prominent leaker, Moore’s Law Is Dead, has publicly warned fans that some of the price and spec rumors circulating are unreliable.
Sony’s silence has also fed speculation about timing. Some leakers still say a 2027 holiday launch is possible; others, citing memory costs, argue Sony could push the console to 2028 or even 2029. Sony itself has offered no year at all — only that no date has been fixed internally.
Timeline
- October 2025 — Sony and AMD announce Project Amethyst, a chip research partnership.
- May 2026 — At Sony’s earnings call, Totoki tells investors the company hasn’t decided the next console’s launch timing or price.
- June 30, 2026 — The PlayStation ecosystem reaches about 93 million households and 125 million monthly active users.
- July 2026 — Sony announces on the PlayStation Blog that it will end physical disc production for new PlayStation games starting January 2028.
- August 18, 2026 — Totoki tells the Wall Street Journal the next console still has no internal release date, citing the memory-chip shortage.
No, that GTA 6 console isn’t a PS6 leak
One viral moment made the rounds this month for the wrong reason: an unbranded console that briefly appeared in a Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer got joked about online as a “PS6 leak.” It carries no Sony or PlayStation branding, and there is no evidence it’s a real Sony product. As of now, no verified official photo, render or box art of the next PlayStation exists, because Sony hasn’t revealed one.
What’s next
There’s no PlayStation event, price reveal or launch date on the calendar. For now, anything more specific than what’s confirmed here — including the codename, the chip details and every price and date floating around online — is industry speculation, not confirmed fact.