PlayStation 6 launch: Sony fans may have to wait longer for PS5’s successor

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published documents filed in relation to the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger, including Sony’s official responses. And Sony appears to have confirmed plans to extend the PS5’s lifespan, which would mean a longer wait for the PlayStation 6.

Sony presented its case to the CMA on why Microsoft should not be allowed to acquire Activision Blizzard with arguments that, unsurprisingly, focused on “Call of Duty.” Sony is not convinced that PlayStation would not lose access to the first-person shooter franchise once the deal goes through.

At the time Sony wrote its response, the company said Microsoft only promised to maintain “Call of Duty” on PlayStation. This lines up with SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan’s previous statement to the press, saying that Microsoft was only committed to giving PlayStation access to the game for three years once its existing deals with Activision expire. But Sony also gave away one interesting piece of information that relates to the upcoming PlayStation 6.

“Microsoft has offered to continue making Activision’s games available on PlayStation only until 2027,” Sony wrote. “By the time SIE launched the next generation of its PlayStation console … it would have lost access to Call of Duty and other Activision titles.”

As expected, any release windows mentioned in the filings have been redacted before they were published this week. But going by what Sony said above, it appears that the company is planning to release the PlayStation 6 sometime after 2027.

Since the first PlayStation was released in 1994, Sony has maintained six to seven years of gap between generations of the console. PS2 came out in 2000, followed by PS3 in 2006. PS4 arrived in stores in 2013, and then came PS5 in 2020.

That said, long-time Sony fans may have been expecting the PlayStation 6 to be released by 2027. But based on what Sony told the CMA, that does not appear to be the case, as it makes 2028 the seemingly earliest possible release window for PlayStation 6.

PS5 continues to dominate over the Xbox Series X/S since they were both released in November 2020. Sony’s current-generation console just crossed 25 million units sold as of September. And the company said the demand for the console has not changed much even after it raised prices in almost all regions where PS5 is being sold, except the United States.

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