PS6 Delayed to 2028-2029 Due to Memory Chip Costs

Sony is reportedly considering a significant delay for the PlayStation 6 to 2028 or 2029 to avoid a prohibitively high retail price point.
The primary driver is a global memory chip shortage, fueled by insatiable demand from AI data centers, which is raising costs for console manufacturers.
The component crisis is affecting the entire industry, with Nintendo also said to be weighing a rare price hike for the upcoming Switch 2 in 2026.

For years, the console business ran like clockwork. A new PlayStation or Xbox arrived every six or seven years, with a predictable price tag and a clear leap in power. That rhythm's getting wrecked. According to multiple reports from the supply chain, Sony's PlayStation 6 might not show up until 2028 or later. The reason isn't a lack of ideas. It's a brutal, expensive fight for the chips that make the whole thing work, and right now, the competition isn't Microsoft. It's every AI company on the planet.

So, a PS6 in 2029? Seriously?

Let's lay out the rumor. Sources talking to Bloomberg and echoed across tech outlets say Sony is mulling a PS6 launch in 2028 or 2029. That's the timeline on the table. For context, the PS4 arrived in 2013 and the PS5 followed in 2020. Sticking to that pattern would've meant a 2027 reveal. Pushing to 2028 is a stretch. A 2029 launch is basically a whole extra console generation of waiting. No one at Sony or Nintendo is confirming this, so file it under 'credible industry chatter' for now. But the logic behind the delay is what makes it believable. This isn't about the tech being late. It's about the tech being too damn expensive to sell.

Blame the AI Gold Rush

Here's the thing. Your next console is fighting for parts with the servers that power ChatGPT and Midjourney. There's a global stampede for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the fancy, fast chips that AI data centers are snapping up by the warehouse. That frenzy is sucking up supply and jacking up prices for everyone else. As one report bluntly put it, "The construction boom of AI data centers is driving a surge in demand for memory and hard disk drives." Console makers, who need to buy these components by the tens of millions to hit a mass-market price, are getting priced out. The AI sector has deeper pockets and doesn't care if a memory module costs $100 or $150. Sony absolutely has to care.

The Nightmare: An $800 PlayStation

This is the number that supposedly scared Sony into hitting the pause button. The chatter says launching the PS6 on time could force a retail price of $800 or more. That's a non-starter. The sweet spot for a new console has been between $399 and $499 for two decades. Doubling that is a guaranteed way to kill your own product before it launches. We've already seen Sony flinch on price. Remember in August 2023, when it raised the PS5's price by $50 in the US? The company blamed the "global economic environment," but it was a clear signal that component costs were biting. If a $50 hike on current hardware was necessary, imagine the math on a next-gen machine built with AI-grade parts.

Nintendo's Feeling the Pinch, Too

This isn't just a problem for the high-end. Nintendo, the king of cost-effective hardware, is apparently sweating. The rumored specs for the Switch 2 include 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The cost of that memory has reportedly shot up by 41%. Even the 256GB of NAND flash for storage is up about 8%. That's why there's talk Nintendo might do the unthinkable: raise the price of the Switch 2 after it launches, perhaps in 2026. Nintendo hates raising hardware prices. If they're even considering it, you know the supply chain is in bad shape.

What This Means for Your PS5

If the PS6 is delayed, your PS5 suddenly has a much longer and more important life. Sony gets more time to milk the PS5's huge install base, sell more games and subscriptions, and maybe even release that rumored "PS5 Pro" to keep hardcore gamers happy. But there's a real risk. Stretching a generation to nine years risks player fatigue. It gives Microsoft a huge opening to redefine the "most powerful console" on their own timeline. And it cedes narrative ground to PC gaming, where incremental upgrades never stop. Sony would be betting that a stable, extended PS5 era is smarter than launching a wildly expensive PS6 into a skeptical market.

Ignore the Early Spec Guessing

With any delay rumor comes wild speculation about what the hardware might be. One outlet, HotHardware, tossed out guesses like 30GB of GDDR7 RAM for a PS6 or 48GB for the next Xbox. Let's be clear: those are just guesses. Fun to think about, but completely unconnected to the supply-chain reports about cost and delays. The real story isn't how much RAM Sony wants. It's whether they can afford whatever RAM they choose without making you pay a mortgage payment for it.

The Takeaway

This is a power shift. For decades, console makers set the pace and dictated terms to component suppliers. Now, a new customer with bottomless funds, the AI industry, is calling the shots. The result is that the timeline for the next generation of games isn't being set by engineers in Tokyo or Redmond. It's being set by factory allocations in South Korea and the whims of the AI market. Get ready to live with your current console for a long, long time. The era of the predictable, affordable hardware leap might be over.