In a recent Sony corporate strategy meeting, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO John Kodera said that he thinks that PlayStation 4 is entering the final phase of its life.
According to Takashi Mochizuki of the Wall Street Journal, he paraphrased Kodera as saying that the PS4 was “entering final phase of its life cycle, which would have negative impact to the unit, but recurring revenue via membership services etc. should cushion some of that.”
To put this comment in perspective, the PS4 was released back in November 2013 and has sold around 79 million unit across the world. The five-year cycle is also something that consoles back in the day used to operate around and we are already hearing rumors of a PS5, so this timing makes sense.
Whether we will see the PS5 by the end of this year though is anybody’s guess but I agree with my colleague Paul Tassi that it is probably unlikely and that early next year is more likely.
After all, the end of year holiday season is a hugely important time for gaming sales and it makes sense for Sony to keep the PS4 around for that. However, when the PS4 was launched it did so over the same holiday season back in 2013 so it could go either way.
With any luck, Sony will reveal more about the next PlayStation and its plans for console gaming at this year’s E3 in a couple of weeks. Until then, it seems the PS4’s days are numbered and another big generational shift is upon us.
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