Making a $300 PS5 instead of a $1,200 PS6 would be ‘real innovation,’ says former PlayStation boss

As the PS5 generation approaches its sixth year, talk of the sequel has been circulating for some time, and with hardware as expensive as it is, the prospect of a PS6 isn’t as exciting as it should be.

Opinions differ on this, of course, but it’s generally agreed that Sony’s next-generation machine is going to be extremely expensive, and no one currently knows if it will be worth buying.

Shawn Layden, former PlayStation CEO and head of PlayStation Studios, has spoken out on the issue of next-generation console hardware in a new interview.

Speaking on the Trophy Room podcast, he says the best solution for Sony wouldn’t be to create a brand new expensive console, but rather to overhaul current hardware in order to sell it for less.

“The typical lifespan of rigs is six to eight years, you get a new one,” Layden says. “But in general, this new product gave you something mind-blowing.”

He talks about the different innovative advancements from console to console, concluding that the jump from PS4 to PS5 was primarily driven by raytracing and teraflops. He expects technical aspects like this to also be used to sell the PS6, but says these are “differences only dogs can hear”, implying diminishing returns.

“We have enough power in the machine. Innovation should not come from making a PS6 for $1,200, but from making another PS5 for $300. That would be real innovation.”

As Layden points out, the current generation is the first to see its price go up rather than down, and he thinks continuing with such a high-priced PS6 and focusing on incremental power increases risks alienating the public.

“What the company must do is do what it has never done, which is to say: don’t do it iterate the console,” he says. “Make it smaller, make it cheaper, do whatever you can around it. Silicon is fine, OS is fine. That’s more than enough to create the kind of games we all want to play. »

While his words of wisdom may ring true for many, Sony itself is moving forward with its next-gen plans, so we’ll likely be looking at an expensive new console within the next couple of years.